Defying Gravity
by Krisuvial
Summary: Max is 19. The Flock kicked her out five years ago. She has been trapped at the School, where she met some new avians. Now Max is charged to save the world again. But this time, she needs more than help. Can the Flock save Max in time?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! Welcome to my story! A little stuff to get out of the way before I begin.**

**This takes place sometime before the end of Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. There is NO Total the talking dog. He never existed. Ari did not expire at the castle fight, but he did "die". And, most importantly, Dylan "Max's perfect match" is not in my story. I had the idea for this story before Dylan was introduced in the MR books. I don't want to change his name because I am used to associating it with my Dylan, not JP's. **

**Now, for the full summery: _Maximum Ride is a nineteen-year-old avian-human hybrid. She has a simple mission. Save the World. She, along with the help of her Flock, took on this challenge five years ago. But they were unsuccessful and the Flock voted to send Max away so they could leave in peace. Now, half a decade later, Max is back. She has to escape from the School with six other avian-human hybrids. But this time the School won't just let them go. These six new experiments are the prodigies of the School. They are perfect in every way, except for their desire to leave. And leaving is impossible. Thanks to Angel's newest power, she might be the one who can rescue them. But Max is different now. In order to save the world, Max must be saved from herself._**

**This story is M. There will be flashbacks/memories/instances of abuse, self-mutilation, death, wanting to die, violence, adult themes, and other dark themes. I will not be posting lemons. Ever, so don't bother asking. I may hint at stuff like that, but you won't get any. **

**Now, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, nor the Flock, School, etc. Only James Patterson does, because he's cool like that.**

**Claimer: All characters not found in a MR book is mine. The plot is also mine.**

* * *

><p>Max<em> mutely watched as her flock cleaned up their latest dinner remains. Iggy and Gazzy were getting rid of all evidence of their campfire. Nudge was dumping leftover bones over the side of the cliff, a mile or so away. Fang and Angel were having an inaudible conversation right inside the cave, our home for the night. Fang kept glancing over at Max, not realizing she noticed. But, knowing Fang as well as she did, she assumed it was nothing. He just liked looking at her, after all.<em>

_After a short while Max turned around. She folded her arms over her chest and shivered slightly. The desert was cold at night, and she had given her only jacket to little Angel since hers was ruined from a recent attack. Max looked out over the sandy expanse, wondering what to do next. She had no plan. She hadn't heard from the Voice in a while, so she had no direction. It was... weird._

_Fang silently stepped over to Max. He copied her form and looked up into the night sky. About half the stars were out. The moon was full. They were so far away from any signs of civilization that there was not even any light pollution. He loved the peace he felt here. Only one thing was wrong..._

_"Max," Fang whispered, his voice hard and dark. It was actually very un-Fang like. Max turned her head slightly, shivering slightly at his darkness. Fang refused to look at her. "We think you should leave."_

_"What?" Max asked, shocked. "Why?"_

_"The kids want to go to school," Fang breathed. "And Iggy and I... We don't want to run anymore."_

_"I still have to save the world, Fang," Max sighed, clearly hurt. "And I need all your help to do that!"_

_"I'm sorry, Max," Fang replied, his voice now dead, emotionless, stoic. "We don't want to. So you should just go."_

_Max turned to the rest of the Flock. They had come over to stand behind Fang. "Well?" their leader demanded, her eyes starting to fill with tears._

_"I agree with Fang," Angel announced without a second thought. Her young voice was confident, sure, and slightly angry. Max winced at this. "I want to go to school and make friends, like a normal kid! I'm tired of running."_

_"We will never be normal, Ange," Max whispered, choking down sobs that threatened to expose themselves. "Wings, remember?_

_"I want to settle somewhere," Iggy admitted. "I'm sick of going places I can't navigate and, just when I start to feel comfortable, up and leaving again!"_

_Max cringed at this. These guys knew to hit where it hurt. She had taught them herself, after all. _

_"I'm with Angel," Gazzy mumbled, unable to look at the closest thing to a mom he'd ever had. And would ever have. "I don't like being scared all the time."_

_Nudge was shaking, tears streaming down her face as she looked Max in the eye. "Me... me too," she choked out. Iggy hugged her._

_Hurt flashed in Max's eyes, but she quickly hid it. "Well, if that's what you want."_

_Max jumped over the cannon and, after a hundred yards of free-falling, snapped out her wings. In three pushes she was level with her flock. Fang was the only one to meet her eyes. Within seconds she was high enough that they couldn't see her, but she could still see them._

_Max watched as the Flock stacked their hands together. Her heart ripped in two as they tapped each others' hands like they did every night before bed. Like nothing was wrong. The kids all made their way into the cave for the night. Fang looked up at the sky one more time, a lone tear escaping from his dark eyes, before wiping it away and retreating into the cave with everyone else._

_Max turned and poured on the speed. Tears blinded her eyes as she flew north, to a new life. Without her flock._

* * *

><p>"Subject A101, you may return to your cell now."<p>

I mentally groaned. Today had been particularly painful. I was silent on the outside as I was escorted down a few halls to my cell, holding my broken arm tight against my side. I was lucky that this was the worst I got. My escort unlocked the heavy metal door, pushed me in, and slammed the door shut. I made my way to the others. Dylan was the only one awake at this hour.

_Bad day? _Dylan mentally asked me.

_Could'a been worse,_ I answered, examining him. His face was paler than normal and I could tell he just recently managed to stop some major bleeding. _You?_

_Same_.

I rolled my eyes. Dylan is sixteen. He is like Angel, but older, stronger, wiser, and, well, better. I actually think the scientists had forgotten about her after he came along. Forgotten all of the Flock, for that matter.

_Don't think about them,_ I scolded myself. Dylan smirked a little. He is the only one who knows about the others, and that's only because he can see through mental barriers. Like mental x-ray vision.

Of course, he'd gotten a punishment from me for that. Initially. But whatever.

_Mental x-ray vision?_ Dylan scoffed.

_Ugh, stop reading my mind,_ I replied.

Dylan sighed silently. _Like I could._

I looked down at the five kids asleep on the hard floor. The oldest was Breeze, or Bree as she preferred to be called. She moved\s silently and quickly, leaving only little breezes in her wake. Plus when she talks it is always soft and breathy. She is always calm and always willing to help Dylan and I. And she is only ten. Her dark brown hair was knotted up and greasy, not very different from usual. Her eyes were the same shade as her hair, but are always shining with life. She hasn't had a bath in her whole life. I wasn't even sure she knew what running water was. But, somehow, she doesn't smell bad like normal people do when they don't bathe.

Illuminate was next. We call her Lumi. She can make light appear from nowhere. We had discovered this during the first blackout we had that she had been awake for. She was petrified of the dark and willed light to appear. She is eight years old, and follows Bree around like a little sister would, even though they're not related at all. She has long golden hair that I put into a tight braid every few days for her and light blue eyes that want to question everything. Like Bree, she's never had a bath, but she doesn't smell bad.

Jason is next. He is Dylan's little brother. At five, Jay has a hard time understanding what happened to us. He has no powers that I'm aware of yet. He has light brown hair and trusting brown eyes. He and Dylan have a very interesting story.

Dylan is my second-in-command here at the school. Like I said, he's sixteen. He can read minds. He basically has complete telepathy and telekinesis. His powers far outshine Angel's. He is terrified of them, though. See, he and Jay were not born with wings. They got them two years ago, after being sold to the school for five hundred dollars and ten cases of beer (and not even the expensive kind, either). Dylan clearly remembers the day he was sold and the weeks of pain that followed thanks to his constant nightmares. Because of his pain, his light green eyes have turned nearly black. His jet-black hair reaches past his shoulders, making him look almost feminine. He hates it, but the school refuses to cut it.

My attention shifted to the two other kids. My heart melts every time I see them. They are my children. I, at nineteen, am the mother of two kids. Three actually, but the School killed one of them, the oldest, shortly after his birth. Which I will never, ever forgive them for. Ever.

Vanish is three. He has black hair and blue eyes. He is a very silent child, and only speaks to Dylan or myself, if he speaks at all. He can go invisible at will, and stay invisible even when moving. And Vani is very protective of his baby sister, Tyler. She can speak to anyone through touch. And she is smart. Incredibly smart for an infant that can't talk, or even walk, yet. She remembers everything, too. Everything from the day she was born.

_What are you thinking about?_ Dylan asked me. I rolled my eyes. Like he needed to ask.

Frowning, I actually replied: _Just... Everything._

Dylan nodded. I leaned against his shoulder. We didn't have anything romantic going on or anything. Because that would technically be illegal, if we did. But we trusted each other with everything we had. I trusted him because he knew everything about me. And I mean _everything_. Whether or not he wants to. And he trusts me because I had been there the day they first experimented on him, giving him wings and his powers. Because the scientists here are completely cruel and sadists, they refused to give him any painkillers. Originally I was there just to watch. Twisted, right? I ended up talking to him throughout the whole process, reassuring him he'd come out alive and it would all be ok. Which it wasn't. But at least he's alive. Somewhat.

_Is it weird?_ Dylan suddenly asked me. _I miss home so much. But, I mean, my father sold me and Jay. But I still miss it._

_I know what you mean,_ I answered. _And no, I guess not. I mean, if he was abusive or something, then maybe. But he was just a crazy man who needed money and beer, right?_

Dylan was silent. He wouldn't look me in the eye.

_Dylan?_ I wondered. _Um, _was _your father abusive?_

The boy nodded his head once, a barely noticeable motion. I tensed, ready to kill someone. That was just not right.

_It is not like I did not deserve it, Max,_ Dylan hurriedly told me. _I mean, I was always in the way, and constantly disappointing him, and..._

_Shut up, _I ordered. _No one ever deserves to be abused. Not by evil scientists and certainly not by the people that gave birth to them!_

Well. That sure explains a lot. The bruises that he had which clearly happened before he arrived here. The jumpiness whenever someone touched him. His extreme fear of the men who work here. I mean, he's afraid of the female scientists, too, but clearly not as much as the male ones.

I didn't tell him that I was sorry. I was. But sorry is an empty word at the School. There was nothing I could have done to prevented it. Heck, I didn't even know him until he showed up here. And I know that there was nothing he could have done, either. Just like there was nothing anyone could have done for me, having been abused my whole life as well. Just in a slightly different way.

_You know, we are not all that different,_ Dylan told me after a few minutes of thought. _Both our fathers abused us our whole lives. We both ended up here, pawns of the School, training to do whatever it is they plan for us to do. _

He is right. Jeb, my birth father, was the one in charge of this whole experiment. He ruined my life. Who knows what I could have done outside these walls? Or the walls of my childhood?

_I miss fresh air,_ I thought regretfully, mostly to myself. _Flying, freedom. _

_You know we cannot escape here, _Dylan warned me. _Not only is it impossible, but against the rules._

I gave Dylan a small smile. _I know you've only known me for a couple years. But I never follow rules, if I can help it. If it weren't for my desire to protect you six, I'd have been gone long ago. That, and I have nowhere to go anyway. I'd just end up back here again._

_What if the Flock came back to save you? _Dylan asked. _Would you go then?_

I shrugged. I knew that they were never coming to get me, so I didn't bother to think of that possibility.

I yawned heavily. Dylan's light eyes filled with regret. _I have kept you up_, he thought. _I am sorry, Max. Get some sleep._

_It's ok,_ I reassured him. Honestly, I didn't mind staying up with him. He couldn't sleep at all. He hadn't slept once in the three years he'd been at the School. Why? He had a perfect memory. He remembered everything he heard and saw. He's been forced to watch and listen to the thoughts of dying experiments during most of his testing hours. As a "side effect" to some drug the Whitecoats forced into his system, he could feel emotions as well. So not only did he hear the audible and inaudible screams of death, but he could feel pain, fear, hate, and just about everything else that went with it. And at night, when everything was calm and quiet, all his horrors would replay themselves. Closing his eyes meant he saw how they were killed, too. So he didn't sleep.

_No, Max,_ Dylan insisted. _Sleep. They have even harder tests for us tomorrow. Rest._

I nodded once and laid down. Of course they would have harder tests.

Listening to the even breathing of the kids around me, I finally managed to succumb to sleep. I didn't need to stay up here. Whether I was awake or not, we'd be put through hell. That was one of the rules of the School.

* * *

><p>A blonde head shot up from underneath a thick quilt, screaming bloody murder. Tears fell down Angel's face as she gasped, her eyes opening and seeing her dark room.<p>

Fang was the first one into her room. She jumped into his arms and cried against his chest. Fang just ran a hand through her hair.

When the girl calmed down, she realized she had an audience. She looked up at Fang. _Make them go away please? I want to tell you something._

Fang nodded. He turned to the others. "Go back to bed, guys. She's ok."

Iggy and Nudge left. Gazzy wasn't so sure. "Ange?"

"I'm... ok..." Angel gasped out. Gazzy sighed, then left.

"What's wrong?" Fang asked softly. Angel untangled herself from him and sat back on her soft bed.

"I... I saw Max," she whispered. "In my dream. Except I don't think I was asleep yet. But anyways, I saw Max."

Fang blinked. Max? He'd refused to think about her for the last few years. His guilt for sending her away was too much. "What about her?"

"She's... alive," Angel stated vaguely. "But... Barely? I guess? I don't know. She's at a lab. Don't even ask where, I have no clue. But I saw her there. With other kids, like us. Younger, though. Except for one. He's older. And I saw her, um, getting tested on. Worse than when we little. She screams. A lot. And I saw the boy, too. But he doesn't make a sound, even though it looks like he's getting worse than Max. I don't know if he's in pain even. But Max is."

Fang bit his lower lip and thought over everything Angel had just told him. They had to be painful tests for Max to scream. And the boy... He didn't like the idea of Max being with an older boy. He still loved her, after all.

"Have you had any other dreams like this?" Fang wondered.

"Sometimes," Angel admitted. "But I usually forget them. I just saw Max when I did. And she was never in pain. Well, not this much. I thought it was just because I missed her, but this was too real. Plus I have no idea who the others are, and people in dreams are people you have met before. I _know_ I've never met these people before."

"So, you're seeing the future?" Fang wondered.

Angel nodded. "I think so."

"But this could be any time in the future, right?" Fang asked.

"I guess," Angel sighed. "But it's got to be soon. 'Cuz it's so concrete. When I've seen the future before, it changes unless someone is very sure of their actions."

Fang nodded. Then he narrowed his eyes at Angel. "You've seen the future before?"

The girl took her turn to nod. "Yeah," she admitted. "But... it's always been dumb stuff. Like, when Nudge is going on a date, or what Iggy's gonna cook for dinner. Or what people will say about my outfit each day."

Fang smirked a little at this. "Well, you have a new power. And I guess it's getting stronger. We need to tell the others later."

Angel nodded. "And maybe... maybe we can save Max?" she offered.

"Maybe we can," Fang replied. "Maybe."

* * *

><p><strong>Please review! I need to know how this is. I haven't written FF in years, so I'm a bit rusty. Also, I know I have tense issues. Tense just doesn't agree with me. Please, give me all the constructive criticism you have. But no flames. If you don't like it, don't read it. I would never flame anybody, and I would like similar respect. If you really have a problem with something I write, PM me. <strong>

**Here is everyone's ages:**

**Max, Fang, Iggy - 19 **

**Dylan, Nudge - 16**

**Gazzy - 13**

**Angel - 11**

**Bree - 10 **

**Lumi - 8 **

**Jason - 5 **

**Vanish - 3 **

**Tyler - 6m**

**Thank you for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Have a wonderful day/night!**

**~Krisuvial~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I'm sorry I haven't updated. Computer issues and all! Just a warning, this chapter is rather boring. I had to rewrite a few times because it was so incredibly boring.**

**I'm apologizing right now if I got any of the Flock's history wrong. Just pretend it happened that way, for my sake? Thanks!**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Maximum Ride... But I do own all the books but Nevermore! Nor do I own Mexico. But it would be awesome if I did.**

**Claimer: My characters, my plot, my design for the Flock's awesome home.**

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><p>"Do you think they are gonna feed us today?"<p>

"I hope so. I am really hungry."

"Why does Momma keep talking in her sleep?"

"We should ask her when she wakes up!"

"I bet Dylan knows. But he just will not tell us."

"That's 'cuz he don't talk, Lumi!"

"Well, that is weird. We all talk..."

I blinked, waking up to Jason crawling into my lap. I forced a small smile onto my face. I hadn't really smiled since I left the Flock.

I looked around our prison. Both of the girls were up and staring at me, confused. "Max?" Lumi asked. "Who is Fang?"

I blinked. "F-Fang?" I wondered. "Why?"

"You say his name sometimes in your sleep," Bree announced. Vani woke up, hearing their voices. He sat up and stuck his thumb in his mouth, leaning against me. "And Angel. And you keep mumbling, 'I have to save the Flock...'"

I looked at Dylan. The older boy just shook his head, telling me he had nothing to do with this. _You sleep-talk sometimes,_ he mentally informed me. _I am surprised they have not brought this up sooner. I think it is time you tell them. They are very curious, and a bit hurt that you have kept this from them for so long._

"I guess you have a right to know," I sighed. These kids were so perceptive. "But let me warn you now, this is a long story."

Bree rolled her eyes. "We have all the time in the wold."

I cracked a smile at that. "Ok, well, nineteen years ago, I was created. The first of the successful avian-human experiments. They took an egg from my mom, Valencia Martinez, and sperm from my dad, _Jeb_, and made a life. Then they added in the avian DNA. The nine months were shaky, from what I've been told. I almost died countless times. But I lived. It was a miracle, to them."

"Jeb?" Lumi asked. "But he is the bad guy!"

"I know, hon," I answered. "I'm the spawn of the Devil."

Dylan smirked at my answer. He was the only one who knew what the Devil was. None of the others did. No one here talked about God and the Devil, Good and Evil. It was just do as we say and you won't be killed.

Maybe.

"But you are not mean," Bree whispered, clearly confused.

"Thanks, sweetie," I replied. "Not all people are like their parents. Besides, my mom is good. Really good. She's a doctor." An animal doctor. Figures, right?

Lumi looked at me patiently. What an angel. "Your story?" she prodded.

I smiled a little. "After I was born, they started experimenting on me. I was the only experiment at that point. Well, the only avian one. There were plenty of others, but they were mostly all failures. Six months later, the school got Fang. His mom was a teenager when she had him. Very young. We think fifteen. And she died during his birth. His dad was nowhere to be found. They didn't even know who he was, or how to find him. Anyway, a doctor at the hospital just handed Fang over to the School. They grafted the avian DNA into him right away. He was only a few days old. But I didn't now him until we were about four. I guess six months later, when I was almost a year old, Iggy came. He was kidnapped from his parent's home. He was about five months old. They grafted avian DNA into him then, too.

"When we were four, the School introduced us to each other. We were put into a room with other experiments. Iggy and Fang had already known each other. I was a loner at that point. Bad stuff happened to us in that room. All I remember is getting hurt, and then Fang and Iggy coming over to protect me. When I woke up we were all in the same room, in separate cages. They told me what had happened and we were immediately friends.

"I'm not sure how they got Nudge. We think she was kidnapped, too, but we have no proof for that. But they grafted the DNA into her too. Eventually Gazzy and Angel came. They were sold to the School. Gazzy was almost three, and Angel was a few months old. They were given the Avian DNA as well. We met them right away. I even got to keep Angel with me, in my cage. They School didn't want to bother raising her, and I was already eight, so they let me do it.

"Around that time the School messed up on an experiment. They wanted to enhance Iggy's eyesight. Of course, he had excellent sight already, so it was a waste of time. They just ended up blinding him. So he can't see.

"Two years later, Jeb was suddenly the good guy. Of course, I followed him around and did everything he wanted me to do for most of my life before I was eight. Until I met Angel and Gazzy, that is. I couldn't understand how such innocent children would get tortured like this. I stopped doing what they wanted me to do. I fought back. Jeb was the bad guy then. And when I was ten, Jeb helped us escape. He kidnapped us from the School and brought us to this beautiful house in Colorado. We were safe for the next two years, with him being out dad. He taught us to fly. How to fight. To cook. To care for wounds. To read and write. Some math and history. It was a magical time, basically.

"But our happiness with Jeb only lasted two years. When I was twelve, Jeb just vanished. We thought he had died, and continued our lives like he was dead. He had actually gone back to the School to report on us. We were alone for the next two years, until we were discovered by Erasers. Angel was stolen from us and taken back to the School. So we went and got her back. During that trip I met my mom, but I didn't know she was my mom then. She helped me heal from a bullet wound I got saving her daughter from some bullies. After saving Angel we went to New York, where there was information about us and our past. None about me, though. We discovered Iggy's parents, who wanted to make money with his story. We found out that Gazzy and Angel had been sold to the School. We learned that Fang's mom was a dead teenager. We learned nothing about Nudge or me.

"We were attacked, flying to Virginia to find Iggy's parents. Fang had to go to a hospital, it was so bad. We met Anne, one of the scientists here. She treated us like a real mom would, until we figured out who she really was. We went back to my mom's house in Arizona then. Eventually we were sent to save the world across the ocean. Fang and I split into different Flocks. That was hard, but he refused to be around Ari, my half-brother who was an Eraser and had tried to kill us countless times. But he was good then. I'd killed him twice, and he was still alive. And very sorry for hurting me. While we were in our final battle, Ari expired. I barely got out of a fight alive with Omega- you guys know who he is.

"After a while of going from place to place, my Flock got mad. They wanted to go hide somewhere and just live. I still had to save the world, though. We kept getting attacked by the School's creations. It was hard. Finally they just kicked me out. I left them, and haven't heard from them since. It's been almost five years."

Bree had tears streaming down her face. I hugged her tiny form.

"You have been outside?" Lumi questioned, her voice awed.

"Yeah," I answered. "And so has he!" I pointed to Dylan at this.

"Well, he does not talk," Lumi sighed. "Tell us about the Flock, Max."

"Please," Bree begged, wiping away her tears.

Suddenly the door opened. Whitecoats walked in. "Tonight," I promised. We were all taken away for various tests after that, putting up varying amounts of resistance to the Whitecoats. Seeing as I was allowed to keep Ty with me this time, I didn't resist at all. I'd rather have my baby with me than on her own.

* * *

><p>Dylan and I were the first to return, late that night. Tyler had been taken from me shortly after our first test. I sat against the metal wall of my prison, sighing in pleasure as the cold surface cooled my aching back. What a day that had been.<p>

_It hurts, talking about them,_ Dylan mused.

I nodded. He knew everything.

_Well, not everything,_ Dylan stated. _If I knew everything, I would know of a way to escape here, would I not?_

"You've thought of that?" I asked aloud, surprised.

_Of course I have, _the boy scoffed. _You are not the only one who wishes these children could have a real life. But there is no possibility to escape. Not one scenario I have has turned out positive._

"Same here," I mumbled. "Nothing can work here." Except the one where the Flock rescues us. But that's never going to happen.

We were quiet for a while. I laid back, hooking my hands together under my head. Suddenly Dylan's face turned into a mix of horror and disgust.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, suddenly worried. I sat up and knelt in front of him. He never showed emotion unless it was something really bad, or really good. This was bad, of course.

_Have you been unconscious during any of your tests?_ the teen asked me.

"Yeah," I answered. "Recently they've been testing my endurance to see how long I could go before passing out. Why?"

_How long are you usually unconscious for? _Dylan wondered, ignoring my question.

"About five minutes or so," I answered. "Last week I was out for a few hours a couple times. Dylan, what does that have to with anything?"

_You're pregnant, Max, _Dylan informed me. I groaned. _I can sense her in you. She is not developed enough to read her mind or anything, but I can sense her. I am so sorry._

"It's not like it's your fault," I mumbled. Why me? Why? I'm only nineteen! I shouldn't be having babies yet!

After a while of silence the kids were returned, one at a time. I winced as Jason's stomach growled. I doubted any of them had been fed today. I hadn't.

"Tell us about the Flock now, Max?" Lumi asked/ordered.

I grinned. She was strong. "What do you want to know?" Anything to keep their minds off hunger and pain. And anything to keep my mind off another pregnancy. I'd rather stand in front of a train then have another kid right now.

"Everything!" Jason exclaimed. Amusement danced in Dylan's eyes, sufficiently masking his pain. These kids were just so innocent sometimes.

"Alright," I said. Jason climbed into his brother's lap. Vani crawled onto my lap and leaned against my stomach. I held Tyler in my arms. Lumi leaned against Dylan's free side and Bree did the same to me. They all looked at me, waiting.

"I'll start with Angel," I began. "She's the baby. She has blonde curls and the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen. She's a mind-reader, but she can't penetrate mind blocks. She can also control people with her mind, but only when she meets their eyes. She's incredibly smart and strong, like all of us are. When I left, she was almost seven. She can breathe underwater and talk to fish. She's the one I raised from a little baby, and she considered me a mother."

"Like me?" Jason wondered. I smiled. He hadn't known either of his real parents, which was for the better, I suppose. Since I raised him, he believed I was his mom, though he knew I wasn't really.

"Yeah," I answered. "Except she never called me Mama!"

Jason grinned at this. He completely considered me his mom, even going so far as to call me that. I absolutely loved it.

"Gazzy is next," I continued after ruffling the little boy's hair. "He is Angel's biological brother. They look exactly alike. We named him the Gasman, because one of his powers deals with, well, gas." The girls crinkled their noses at this while Jordan and Vanish laughed. "Gazzy can also mimic voices perfectly. Sometimes, when he was bored, he would either use mine or Fang's voice to make the other very mad. The kids all thought this was so funny." The kids all laughed at that. "Let's see... Gazzy loved explosives. He and Iggy build bombs all the time. They came in useful many times, too."

"Nudge," I breathed. Louder, I manged to continue. "Nudge. She never stopped talking. We used to call her the Nudge Channel: All Nudge, All the Time. She has beautiful long brown hair and dark skin. Her eyes are a deep chocolate-brown color. She can talk about anything for hours on end, effortlessly switching topics. She is a complete fashionista. Um, she can hack into any computer in seconds too, which is a very useful thing when you're not locked up."

"Ok, Iggy," I continued again, trying to hide the pain I was feeling by remembering my Flock. "He's the blind one. But he's so well adjusted, it's easy to forget he _is _blind sometimes. He's our cook, because I never could. And he's an amazing cook, too. His hearing and feel is better than ours, making up for his inability to see. He has strawberry-blonde hair and is extremely pale. He makes jokes about everything and loves to build bombs like Gazzy. He was always the mediator when Fang and I fought, since we're all the same age."

"Fang," I whispered. My heart ached saying his name. "He was my best friend. My second-in-command. We knew each other like no one else did. We could read each other easily, even though we both tried to hide our feelings. He had black hair and dark eyes, and tannish skin. He rarely talked or even smiled. But... he meant everything to me. He kissed me a few times, and I ran away, but eventually I welcomed it and... yeah."

_And yeah?_ Dylan mentally laughed. _What a strong ending for the great Maximum Ride._

All I could think to do was glare. Dylan was unfazed. My anger had nothing on his nightmares.

"Do you miss them?" Lumi asked, yawning.

"I guess so," I answered. "They were my life until they made me leave."

"What about us?" Jason wondered.

"You guys are my life now," I promised.

"What's outside like?" Bree wondered.

"Amazing," I sighed. "Trees, grass, blue sky, oceans, lakes, sand... There are lots of good people and fun things to do. Sports and games to play. Books to read. It's wonderful."

"I want to go outside," Lumi whispered. Bree and Jason nodded.

_But we cannot, _Dylan thought. _Ever._

I bit my lip. He was right. The only way we could ever escape is if the Flock came looking for us. Which I highly doubted would happen after so many years.

* * *

><p>"FANG!"<p>

Fang jumped up from his desk and ran to Angel's room. "What?" he asked, his heart racing ten times faster than normal.

Angel was sitting in her bed, crying like there was no tomorrow. Fang held her close and soothed her, running a calloused hand through her blonde curls.

"What is it?" Fang asked fifteen minutes later, when Angel's tears stopped.

"Max," Angel whispered, her voice breaking. "I saw her... Dead."

Fang froze. Dead? The only reason he hadn't given up completely was knowing Max was alive somewhere. If she died, he'd have no reason to live.

"She's dead?" Fang asked slowly, unable to comprehend.

"Not yet," Angel answered hurriedly, yet sadly. "But if she stays where she is, she will be. I saw two futures. One, she stays and died. Two, we go rescue her and bring her here. We have to, Fang! We _have_ to! Please!"

"Ok," Fang agreed without a second thought. "You and I will go in the morning, once the others wake up. Do you know where they are?"

Angel nodded. "I saw it in my vision. Mexico."

"Pues, vamos a Mexico, eh?" Fang asked in Spanish. Angel grinned.

"Oh, yes!" she cried. "Max'll be so happy to see us!"

* * *

><p><strong>I love Angel's new power. Hehehe. <strong>

**Pues, vamos a Mexico- Well, let's go to Mexico!**

**Thank you so much for reading my story. I will try to update once a week from now on, but no promises! I only have a few chapters written, and none are the next one. Just so you know, there is no Total the talking dog in my story. I think I may have mentioned that last chapter, but I can't remember. But there is none, and won't be one. And about the computer problems? Yeah, an overly-used excuse. But for me, it's legit. I'm awful with technology, repelling it every button I press. Ask my friend. He's fixed my computer a dozen times in the last two years. Anyway, like I said, boring chapter. Just a filler. Had to be done. Sorry! **

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! I reply to every single one I get, too. Feel free to ask me anything!**

**Finally, does anyone know why I don't get emails from fan fiction? Like for reviews and story updates? It's rather annoying.**

**Hasta luego, mis amigos! (See you later, my friends!)**

**~Krisuvial~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! An update, half a week earlier than planned! I hope you like it!**

**Special thanks to_ Metal Flowers_ and _aaaandmaxride123_ for reviewing both chapter 1 and 2. You guys rock!**

**FYI: This chapter switches from Max POV to third-person-Fang POV. You'll see the POV in the first or second line of each section.**

**Disclaimer: If I was James Patterson, I would not be on FanFiction. Anything found in the MR books (minus Dylan) is not mine. Nor do I own Burger King, nor Mexico.**

**Claimer: My characters, my plot.**

* * *

><p>Fang waited impatiently at the kitchen table for the Flock to wake up. Iggy was the only other one up so far. Fang had filled him in on what was going on as the pyro cooked breakfast. Iggy wasn't completely thrilled with Fang's plan, but he had to admit that it wouldn't work any other way. And it would just be too weird for their whole family to miss a few days of school.<p>

"I can't wait to actually _see_ Max," Iggy stated with a grin. His bright eyes focused on Fang. "You know, since I actually can now."

Fan nodded, smiling a little at Iggy's happiness. About a year ago Iggy had been sent to see the nurse at their school. She informed him of an experiment the local hospital was performing. At first he was freaked out at the idea of an experiment, until the nurse gave him more information about it. It was to see if a newly discovered surgery could restore eyesight to a blind person. Iggy would be the fifth person to test it. Only one of the other four had been successful. There were no known dangers to the surgery. After talking about it with the Flock for a few days, Iggy agreed. When he woke up from the surgery, he could see.

It hurt like hell, but he could see. And that's all that mattered.

Angel came down first, wearing light blue jeans covered in flowers and a pink windbreaker. She dropped her flowery backpack on the ground and sat next to Fang as Iggy finished cooking. She gave both boys a bright smile.

"Woah!" Iggy exclaimed, shielding his eyes. "Her happy face! It's blinding me!"

Fang smirked and Angel giggled. Gazzy entered the room to see his sister in such a good mood. She hadn't been very happy around the Flock since Max left. For a while she would only speak to Gazzy, being mad at the older three for their decision. She herself hadn't wanted anything to do with it, and made that perfectly clear.

Gazzy was wearing a camo outfit. Because his backpack was the same, Fang almost couldn't see it. He rolled his eyes. Gazzy and Iggy were going to play paintball after school today, so they decided to just wear their camo to school instead of having to come home first to change.

"What's so funny?" Gazzy asked his little sister, looking from Fang to Iggy.

"Nothing," she replied. Gazzy just shook his head and sat next to her.

Dr. Valencia Martinez entered next. She frowned at Fang. "Well, you're up early," she noted.

Fang just shrugged. Normally he'd stay in his room until the last possible minute, grabbing Poptarts on his way to school. But today he and Angel would be leaving before the others even went to school, so he was up early.

Ella and Nudge stumbled down last. Both girls were still half-asleep, not even dressed for school yet. Because they were so out of it, neither girl spoke. At all.

Iggy and Dr. M. served breakfast and drinks. Everyone ate until they were stuffed. That was when Fang spoke.

"We found Max," he announced. Nudge grinned and started squealing, instantly waking up. Ella copied her. Iggy just grinned; he already knew. Gazzy's eyes lit up. Angel started bouncing in her seat, ready to go. Dr. M. just frowned.

"Where is she?" the Flock's adoptive mom wondered.

"A School in Mexico," Angel answered. "Me and Fang are going to go get her."

Gazzy and Nudge frowned at that. "Why can't we go?" Gazzy demanded.

"Because," I explained. "The less of us go, the better. It'll be easier to sneak up on them. And you three need to stay here and help Dr. M. prepare a room for Max."

Nudge nodded, accepting Fang's decision without question. Gazzy looked like he wanted to argue, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I don't think you two should go," Dr. M. stated.

"Same here," Fang replied. "But we have to. Angel?"

"I saw two futures," Angel explained. "One, Max stays at the School and dies. Two, we go save her and she lives. It's really a no-brainer."

"You two are going to miss class," Dr. M. pointed out.

I smirked. "I'm not all that worried," Fang said. "It's just school."

Angel nodded. "It's really easy. And we'll be back in a few days."

Dr. M. sighed in defeat. "I know you'll go even if I forbid it," she mumbled. Angel nodded happily. "Just call me everyday? Twice a day?"

"Sure thing, Dr. M," Fang promised, standing up. He grabbed his black backpack and put it on. "Ready, Angel?" he asked.

Angel stood up and grabbed her backpack, nodding at Fang. She hugged Dr. M. "See you in a few days, Mom!" she said. Dr. M. grinned. Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge all called Dr. M. "Mom". She had gotten the Flock official papers that made them legal citizens, then adopted them all. Fang and Iggy didn't feel comfortable calling her Mom. Iggy just called her Val most of the time. Fang went with Dr. M.

Fang and Angel went outside and leaped into the air. The unfurled their wings and started flying south-west.

_We're coming for you, Max, _Fang thought.

* * *

><p>"Aghhhhhhhhhhhh!"<p>

I flinched at the screams coming from another room. I turned my attention back to the child sleeping in my arms. I had the day off. Tyler was recently returned to me, drugged way up. Bree also had the day off. We were sitting in our prison, munching on some stale bread.

"Max?" Breeze asked, looking up at me. "Am I crazy?"

"Why?" I wondered, giving her my full attention.

"Because I keep seeing things," she sighed. "Events. Some of them happen in real life, but I see them before they do."

"No, you're not crazy," I whispered, hugging her close to me. "It sounds like you're seeing the future, Bree."

"It keeps changing," Bree continued. "Like, I see one, uh, future, and then another one like it later but with a different ending. It feels like, maybe, when someone makes a final decision, the future is more set? More clear. I do not know. But it is random. Like it just hits me and then goes away and I cannot control it."

She started crying. I ran my hand through her hair and whispered words of comfort to her. So she was seeing the future. Now that's something else.

* * *

><p>"They are gonna come get us," Bree whispered, scared. It was the next day. Her visions had been coming more often in just fourteen or so hours. But we couldn't figure out if what she saw would happen soon in the future or far off.<p>

Dylan's eyes showed horror in them. _She can see some of the things they plan to do to us,_ he thought to me. He shivered. _I knew they did these things, and saw them in __the kid's memories, but seeing them before they even happen? It is so wrong. _

I glared at the door to our jail. How could they put these kids through this? It was so, so wrong.

_It was wrong when you went through it, too,_ Dylan reminded me. I shrugged his comment away. No kid should ever be tortured like this. Or at all, actually.

_Tell that to the scientists, _Dylan thought.

I rolled my eyes. I'd done that plenty of times. And just look where it got us.

* * *

><p><em>Hey, Fang? <em>Angel mentally called out to Fang. They were flying over the state of Texas on their second day of flying. Since they were soaring hundreds of feet in the air, Angel chose to mind-speak instead of shout.

_What's up?_ Fang replied.

_What if Max... what if she won't come with us? _Angel asked.

_Why wouldn't she come with us?_ Fang countered.

_Well, she's stubborn, _Angel began. _She might still be mad at us._

_If she doesn't want to come, we'll let her go, _Fang decided.

Angel sighed, doing some flips in the air. Fang didn't say anything, opting to just let the kid have some fun. He hated being the Flock's leader. He could never tell the kids what to do, especially when they used their Bambi eyes on him. That's why he enlisted Dr. M to help control them.

_Oh, Max'll be so thrilled to hear that Dr. M's her mom!_ Angel thought-exclaimed to Fang. _When can we tell her?_

_Let Dr. M do it, _Fang replied. _We'll just tell her she's living with us._

Angel nodded. They flew for the rest of the day in a comfortable silence, not stopping until night started to fall. They landed behind a motel. Shaking dirt off them, they made their way to the front. Fang stared down the man at the computer.

"I need a double room," Fang said.

"I'm sorry sir," the man replied rudely. "All our doubles are booked. We do have a few singles with sofas in them if you would like."

Fang nodded once. "Fine."

"I just need your name, phone number, and credit card," the man said, clicking away on his PC.

"Nicholas Martinez," Fang said, handing over his credit card. "873-283-3840."

The man swiped Fang's card and handed back his card. "Room 113. Just go left in the hall. Check-out by nine or you'll be charged another day." He handed over a key card and turned back to his PC.

Fang and Angel went to the room. It smelled awful and had some mold in the corner. Angel glared at the room, then sighed. "This place stinks."

"I know," Fang replied. "Ready to get some chow?"

"Aren't I always?" Angel replied sweetly. Fang rolled his eyes and led the girl out of the motel and down the street. He had seen the Burger King when they were looking for a place to sleep.

"We need to get some food to go," Angel told the cashier when it was their turn. The women, too busy drooling over Fang, barely heard her. Angel cleared her throat and the cashier looked at her, then back at Fang.

"Is she your sister?" she wondered, not sure how they were related.

_Of course she is, _Fang mentally sneered. _I mean, we're carbon copies. Just with different colored skin. And hair. And eyes. Just about everything, actually._

Angel giggled.

"Yeah," Fang answered. "Adopted. Can we order some take-out?"

"Of course," the cashier replied, flipping her hair. "What can I get you two tonight?"

"Three large number sevens, a number four, and two number sixes, all with onion rings, please," Angel said. "But only one soda."

"Getting food for the rest of your family I see," the cashier mused. Angel hid her giggle.

"And we need four large number twos, a number eight, and a number three," Fang said. "Only one drink." The cashier nodded, pushing all the right buttons. She brushed Fang's hand while handing him his drink cup. Fang internally shuddered.

"Anything else I can get for you?" the girl wondered.

"That's all," Angel answered. "How much?"

"Eight-six seventy-nine," the cashier stated. Fang handed over his credit card. She ran it through her machine and returned it and a receipt to him. Fang and Angel went off to get drinks while their food was prepared.

"She was flirting with you hard," Angel noted as they left the store with three large bags of food.

"I know," Fang replied.

"She wants to do some weird stuff to you," Angel said. "What's BDSM?"

Fang shivered. "Nothing for you to know about," he replied. "Nothing _I_ even want to know about."

"So she was having dirty thoughts about you?" Angel questioned.

"Um, yeah, I guess," Fang stuttered.

"Gross," Angel breathed. "Hey, Fang?"

"Yes, Angel?" Fang asked. _Oh, what could she possibly want to know about now?_

"After we save Max, we should take her to Olive Garden!" Angel exclaimed.

Fang breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, we should."

* * *

><p>Two days passed. I started feeling like someone was looking for me. But that was silly. No one would look for me. Even if they did, no one could find me here.<p>

I stumbled back into our prison after another day of testing. Because I know had my own flesh-and-blood children to look after, I'd completely given up fighting back. I only had to make that mistake once.

I collapsed in my usual spot against the wall. Jason and Lumi were the only one in the room this time. Lumi was sleeping. Jason frowned at me as I stretched out my broken leg. Some stupid new creature had broken it in a dozen spots.

"Momma?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"My leg's broke," I mumbled, trying not to scream in pain. _Pain is just a message... Pain is just a message... Pain is just a message..._

"Lumi can fix you!" Jason announced. He shook the older girl. "Lumi, Momma's hurt."

Lumi met my eyes, shocked. "Um, your leg is broken?" she stated/asked. I nodded. "I can, um, heal it."

"You can?" I wondered.

Lumi nodded. "Watch." She placed her hands on top of my leg and they started to glow softly. I just watched in amazement as my leg healed and all the pain disappeared.

"When did you learn this?" I asked.

"A while ago," Lumi admitted. "But I did not want _them_ to find out."

I nodded, understanding. "I don't blame you. That's a pretty cool power, though."

"What is?"

I smiled at Bree and Dylan as they entered the room. Bree was looking at Lumi impatiently.

"My healing," Lumi answered. Bree grinned and nodded.

"Sure is!"

Dylan pulled a little bundle out from under his shirt. He'd taken Tyler from some Whitecoats while they weren't looking. I took my baby and held her as she drifted off into sleep.

Vani came in last. He was bleeding from his head. Lumi immediately healed him. Then she lay back, exhausted.

"It makes me really tired, healing people," she whispered.

"Get some sleep," I replied.

We were quiet for a few hours as the kids dozed. All the sudden Bree sits up, her eyes wide and excited.

"Max! Max! Max!" she exclaimed. "We are getting rescued!"

"What?" I demanded, my jaw dropping.

"Two of your Flock are coming!" Bree continued, jumping up and down. "Max! It's Fang and Angel! They're almost here! And they're gonna save us all!"

I couldn't believe it. But it had to be true. Bree was always careful with her speech, never using contractions or shortened words in fear of punishment (yeah, they punish these kids for speaking normally). And she was grinning and jumping. She must have seen it in a vision.

"How soon?" Lumi asked, waking up.

"Really soon!" Bree answered. "It's really, really clear!"

Just then we heard alarms go off. **Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder alert! **

Dylan looked at me, apprehensively. _No way they can get us out, _he thought. _How could they even get in?_

I shrugged. It was Fang. He always got his way.

About thirty minutes later I smelled smoke. **Evacuation plan Alpha! All employees and interns, find your nearest exit. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill.**

_Plan Alpha, _Dylan thought angrily. _Escape and leave all experiments behind. Leave all evidence to be destroyed._

"We need to get out," I said to the kids. "Dylan, carry your brother. I can get Vani and Tyler. Lumi, Bree, keep up. Shout out if you can't."

I looked at the door and kicked it once. Then I cursed.

"Damn that hurt!" I finally muttered after using every curse word I knew. In English, Spanish, and the few I knew in French.

Dylan rolled his eyes at me. He kicked the door down easily. I glared at him, stepping into the hallway. Down the left I could see smoke. So I led the way down the right.

I knew a way to get out. But I wasn't sure if it would be covered in flames by now or not. The whole place was deserted, except for the experiments still trapped in their cages. I blocked them out, forcing myself to forget them. I had these kids I needed to care for now. Nothing else mattered.

Then I saw it. The exit. My heart sped up as we raced toward it, me reaching it a full minute before they did. I shoved broken beams away from me as I closed in. I slammed into the door, praying it would open.

It was locked.

* * *

><p>"Fang!" Angel cried out. "I can't sense her!"<p>

"Keep trying," Fang called back. "We _have_ to find her!"

They ran down hall after hall, pulling open doors. They looked in each room, but couldn't find Max. The alarms still droned on, lights flashing. Fang was getting a headache.

"The building's gonna collapse!" Angel suddenly yelled. "We have to leave!"

A burning beam fell down in front of Fang. He stopped short in front of it. The whole building was shaking.

"I can't believe we failed," he whispered. He and Angel snapped out their wings and burst through the ceiling, just as the building fell in on itself. They rose as high as they could as fast as they could. The remains exploded in a mushroom cloud.

"Max," Angel whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Nooooo!"

_Max, _Fang thought, blocking his thoughts from the little mind-reader. _I'm so sorry I failed you._

"Let's go, Angel," Fang breathed, brushing a tear away. "We've got to tell the Flock."

* * *

><p><strong>Mmmm, I love cliff hangers. I truly hope you like this chapter. The last two parts were quite fun to write. Anyways, reviews are greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think. Or if you have any questions. I (may) be more than happy to answer (or not). I reply to every review I receive!<strong>

**Oh. Approximately four days go by in this chapter. It obviously takes Fang and Angel a while to fly around Mexico, seeing as they have no clue where the School is exactly located. Mexico isn't very small.**

**Fly on. **

**~Krisuvial~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! I put off my English paper so you could have another chapter. I hope you like it! It's my longest yet.**

**Warning: A few paragraphs near the end talk about cutting. If this bothers you, you can skip them. It's in the section that starts with "Everyone was asleep".**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride. I only write stories based on his. **

**Claimer: Anyone not appearing in the MR books is mine. As is the plot.**

* * *

><p>Angel cried the whole way home. Fang didn't say a word. They flew non-stop for fourteen hours, then slept for eight. They did this for two-and-a-half days, eating only what and when they absolutely needed to.<p>

The rest of the Flock, Dr. M, and Ella were waiting for them when they returned. They were nervous, but excited to see Max again after so long. Angel had called on the day the left the School, saying they were coming back, then hung up. No one knew anything yet.

They landed in the yard and entered in the back door. Everyone ran over to give them hugs.

"We missed you two so much!" Nudge exclaimed. "But we got Max's room done! Where is she? Oh, I can't wait to see her! Do you think she'll recognize us? I mean, we all got taller and I died my hair and Iggy got that tattoo, but I..."

Nudge and Gazzy looked outside as Nudge spoke, then back to Fang and Angel. The little girl broke out in tears again, stopping the older girl's rant.

"Angel?" Ella asked. "What's wrong?"

"Angel, Fang?" Dr. M called out. "Guys, where's Max?"

Fang barely heard any of this. His heart was broken and part of him, a very important part, had died.

"Dammit, Fang!" Iggy cried, nervous about his friend's vacant look. "What happened?"

Fang blinked, focusing on his friend. He swallowed. "She's dead."

That said, Fang silently went to his room. Angel sobbed louder.

"Angel, honey," Dr. M whispered, hugging the girl tight. "You need to tell us what happened. Please."

Angel nodded, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Just like Max had taught her. "Well, you see..."

* * *

><p>"I wanna wake Momma up," Jason pleaded.<p>

"Let her rest, Jason," Bree replied.

"What about Dylan?" Lumi asked.

"Shut up, Lumi," Bree whispered, close to tears. "I can't heal anymore right now."

"Why's Momma sleeping?" Vani wondered, nervous. He grabbed his mom's cold hand.

"Aw, she'll be awake soon Vani," Lumi promised.

I watched as Max opened her eyes just then, closing them almost as quickly. We were outside. In sunlight.

She groaned.

"Momma! Momma!"

Max slowly opened my eyes this time, giving them time to adjust to the light. She carefully pulled herself into a sitting position, cringing at pain shooting through her. The four kids all smiled in relief when they saw her alive.

"Um, where am I?" she asked, looking around. I could see the confusion on her face, in her eyes, and in her mind.

_Why is she so confused?_ I wondered. _Something must have happened to her memory during the __explosion..._

"Max, we are lost in the woods," Lumi explained.

"The School exploded and you got hurt really bad," Bree continued, her voice raw. "Dylan carried you out but he was hurt too and couldn't get too far before he passed out. But he's better now."

Max looked over at me. My face was impassive as she stared at me. But on the inside, I was freaking out.

Max couldn't remember who any of us were. She didn't even know who she was.

I searched her mind for a reason. Her memory was cloudy. I could still find her memories, but they were buried so far deep under a fog so thick I wasn't sure if she'd ever regain them.

"What... who are you guys?" Max asked. Tears filled her eyes "I don't even know who I am..."

"Momma?" Jason asked, scared.

Max's eyes widened in fright. "Mo-momma?" she repeated, terror in her voice. "I'm not old enough to be a mom..."

Jason and Vanish both looked over at me, afraid. I sighed silently.

_Amnesia, _I thought to Bree. She looked at me, surprised. It was rare that I would communicate with any of the kids unless they initiated it first.

"Amnesia," Bree stated out loud. "She can't remember anything that happened in her past. Or even her name. Right, Dylan?"

I nodded. So Max had amnesia. Which meant I was in charge. Great.

"What do we do now?" Bree asked me.

_Shelter,_ I decided after a few moments of thinking. _Somewhere hidden until we know where to go next._

Bree nodded and repeated my directions. I forced myself up. I could tell my ankle was badly sprained and I had some serious bruising everywhere. But I couldn't feel it as much as I should. I hadn't felt real pain in a long time, just an odd tingling or numbness in its place.

Max tried to stand but she couldn't, collapsing in pain instead. She said she had pain shooting down into her leg. I figured she had a herniated disk in her spine, at least. It had to be pressing on her sciatic nerve, which was causing pain to shoot down her leg. As soon as she was stronger, Lumi could heal that and my ankle. But until then we were on our own.

I bent over and lifted Max off the ground, carrying her bridal-style. I knew she wouldn't be able to walk until she healed. She blushed and hid her face from me.

"Sorry," she sighed. I shrugged.

"So you cannot remember anything?" Lumi asked, bouncing up to me and looking at Max. Bree picked Tyler up off the ground and took Vani's hand. My brother walked on my other side as we made our way deeper into the forest.

"No," Max sighed. Her pain was evident on her face. She was doing such a good job at hiding it, though.

"I guess we should tell you stuff about us, then," Bree mused. I nodded approval and she grinned. "I'm Breeze, or Bree for short. I'm ten."

"I am Illuminate," Lumi announced. "I am eight and everyone calls me Lumi because my name is too long."

"I'm Jason," my little brother stated proudly. "I'm five."

"And these two are your kids," Bree said. "Vanish, three, and Tyler, about six months.

"What about you?" Max asked, looking at me.

"He is Dylan," Lumi answered for me. "He is twenty. And you are Max and are nineteen."

_Illuminate? _I asked, confused.

_Well, if she's not going to remember anything, you have to be older than her so you can be in charge._

Makes sense. And no one else said anything about it.

"Can he talk?" Max wondered, switching her gaze from me to the girl beside us. "Or is he deaf?"

"Neither," Bree answered. "He just doesn't talk."

"Wait a minute," Max said. "You said those two are my kids, and then, um, Jason called me "Momma" earlier? What's going on?"

"Well, Jason's not your _birth_ son," Bree said. "Um, he's Dylan's brother. But Vani and Ty _are_ you're kids. You had both of them."

"Ok," Max breathed. "None of this makes any sense."

"You don't know the half of it, Max," Bree sighed.

We walked in silence for a few hours after that. Eventually the sun started to set. We still hadn't found decent shelter. I decided to stop in a clearing for the night.

I laid Max on the forest floor. Lumi sat next to her and set to work fixing her spine. I took Bree with me and gathered firewood. I had learned years ago how to make a fire during the short time I was in Cub Scouts. I knew enough that we would need at least some fire to stay warm while we were free from the School and on our own.

I didn't know what to do about food. I knew anything we picked could be poisonous, and I wasn't about to take any chances. We could all easily go two more days before we absolutely had to eat, though. Just another thing the School had taught us.

The kids fell asleep quickly, beyond exhausted. Lumi had barely managed to heal my ankle before she passed out. I sat down against a tree to rest as everyone slept around me.

I had to figure out what to do about Max. I wasn't made to be a leader. I didn't know the first thing abut survival. The old Max did. But she was gone.

We were screwed.

* * *

><p>Everyone was asleep. About a week had passed. Max still couldn't remember anything from her past. The kids all told her whatever they were able to, but nothing rang a bell. Plus so much of it was just too damn hard to relive, so no one spoke of it.<p>

I was stressing. Badly. I don't know how Max managed to be the leader of her Flock when she was just twelve years old. I was sixteen, nearly seventeen, and had no idea what I was doing. For all I knew we were walking around in circles and about to walk off the side of the Earth.

We had finally found a cave to sleep in after a week of sleeping on pine cones and dry leaves. I was sitting right outside the cave, enjoying the cool night air. Since I didn't sleep I took the full watch. A little fire was blazing inside, keeping the others warm.

Stress. I'd never been able to deal with it well. I use to blow up in anger when I was younger. Mostly at my father, or his wife. But then I'd always get punished for it. Eventually I learned how to control my anger. Bury it deep inside. But at some point, that anger reaches a tipping point. By then I was too afraid of what would happen to me if I acted out. So I did the only thing I could think of at the time. The thing my father told me to do.

The sharp metal knife that man had given to me when I first joined the Cub Scouts did the trick perfectly then, as it does now. Back then I started with small cuts, barely noticeable, high up my arm where my t-shirt would cover them. I was about nine when I started cutting. Yeah, nine year old can get stressed, majorly stressed. Now I have to make long, deep gashes in order to feel the same satisfaction I'd once received with barely nicking myself.

I hated cutting myself. I really, truly did. I rarely did it anymore, or more correctly, got the chance to. At the school, for the first few years at least, my knife was confiscated and I had to search for something sharp enough to induce pain, which was quite difficult to do considering I was locked up most of the time. Eventually Carl, one of the scientists "in charge" of me noticed I was cutting myself whenever I got the chance. He saw that it calmed me down and made me more, well, agreeable to what they had planned. So he returned my knife to me, on the condition I never use it to hurt anyone besides myself. And of course I agreed when he additionally promised no physical harm would come to Max's kids, as long as I behaved. Basically an ultimatum, but I was fine with it.

I pulled the little knife out of my pocket. Back when I was seven it looked huge. Now it seemed a bit on the small side. But it would suffice for my needs.

I pushed up the sleeves on my long-sleeve shirt and pressed the tip of the metal into a spot just below my elbow, slowly dragging it down to my wrist. Pain burned through my arm. I savored it as my thoughts and visions left me. I could always count on the pain to keep my memories from surfacing.

I made three lines down my right arm, then stopped. My bloody arm was now shaking. This was the deepest I'd gone so far. I took a rag from my pocket and wrapped it around the wounds, squeezing to ease the blood flow. Before long it was over and my arm stopped shaking. I proceeded to do the same to my left arm.

"What are you doing?"

My head snapped up. I'd been so engrossed in the pain that I'd neglected my other senses. Max had taken this opportunity to sneak up on me. She was kneeling next to me now, looking worried. My knife was still in my flesh, so I knew she saw what I'd been doing.

"I don't think you should be doing that," she informed me. I kept my face blank as I met her eyes. Her voice faltered as we stared at each other. "You could lose a lot of blood and die. At least, I think you can..."

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to die. That was pretty much impossible.

"Um, so please stop?" she requested, fear in her eyes She was trying hard not to order me to stop since I was technically the leader and (pretending to be) older than her. But I knew I scared her. And I felt terrible for doing so. I wiped off the blade, folded it, and stuck it in my pant pocket.

"Thanks," Max sighed. "I wish I could remember why you do that. I feel like I already know, but I just can't remember. This whole amnesia thing really sucks."

I nodded. She knew. She'd caught me a few times before. And every time she asked me to stop. I finally gave in and explained my reasoning to her. She understood my pain and told me to never let her catch me cutting again. I had agreed to that. It was easy enough. I just couldn't let her _catch _me doing it. She and I both knew she was basically giving me permission to continue, as long as she didn't have to witness it.

I looked up at the night sky and back at Max. She sighed. "I know, go get some sleep," she mumbled. I smirked, nodding. She just smiled at me. "Is it ok if I stay here? I woke up because I had some pretty disturbing dreams. For some reason you make me really calm."

I shrugged. If she wanted to stay out here she could.

Horrible leader. I know.

Barely twenty minutes later, Max was asleep. Her head rested on my shoulder. I sat still, careful not to move her. I knew she was a light sleeper, and she desperately needed sleep. The deep blue lines around her eyes proved that.

I looked up into the starry sky. I remained like that for the rest of the night. Not once did a memory surface in my mind. I was completely at peace.

* * *

><p>The night went by uneventfully. I didn't even relive my past like I normally would. My mind had been so free that I'd began to contemplate space and the universe. That was nothing I'd ever been able to do before. I was spooked at my lack of terrors, but grateful at the same time.<p>

Since nothing had happened overnight, I was completely unprepared for when Max suddenly lurched up and ran a few yards into the woods just as the sun started to peak over the mountains far to the east. I heard her vomiting all the way from the cave.

She returned a few minutes later, her face confused and disoriented. "Ugh. I feel awful now. But not sick. I guess I'm supposed to know why that is, but I can't remember it either..."

Oh yeah. How could I forget? I guess with all the stress of the School exploding and us gaining our freedom, plus Max's amnesia, I completely forgot that she was pregnant. And all that was probably really bad for the baby.

_Max, you are pregnant, _I thought to her. I hadn't planned on exposing her to my powers just yet, but she needed to know this. And it was too soon to inform the kids about it.

"You- you just spoke?" she questioned.

_Yeah, but mentally, _I replied. _I can read minds and speak telepathically. Listen to me. You are pregnant. And because you are not 100% human, the pregnancy is different. You will only be pregnant for three or four months. And it will hurt. A lot. You are in your fourth week now._

"Pregnant?" Max whispered, unbelieving. "Pregnant? How? When?"

_The School,_ I explained. _About a month ago. In vitro. _

She gave me a blank look."In vitro?"

_They took a sperm and one of your eggs, had them conceive outside your body, and then inserted the new life into you shortly after, _I explained, my memory replaying what happened at the beginning of her first two memories. The scientists had wanted to me to see what happened, so one day I could perform it.

Like I ever would.

"Who's the father?" Max wondered.

_I do not know, _I answered. It was the truth. I knew the first two were Fang's, but only because Max was so sure they were. But this one... I had a feeling it wasn't Fang's baby. Max was the only breedable subject they had, and we both had known they'd want to test different sperm in her. There was just no way this baby was Fang's.

"Why did they do this to me?" she asked, her voice cracking. "To all of us? Were we awful humans before they changed us? Did we do something bad to deserve all this?"

I shook my head. _You were born this way. So were Lumi and Bree. Jason and I, well, our father sold us four years ago. And then they wanted to see if you were capable of having children, hence Tyler and Vanish._

"I just can't understand," Max sighed.

_It is just our poor luck that landed us these cards, _I mused. _Most humans do not even know we exist. They are not supposed to. And they never will, if the School gets away with their plans. Everything the scientists ever did was illegal. If the government ever found out, well, hell would break loose, I suppose._

"Where are we gonna go?" Max asked.

I shrugged. I had no clue. We were just going to keep moving until inspiration hit. I wanted to put as much distance between us and the School as possible.

I heard the sounds of the kids waking up. Time to start another day.

* * *

><p>"How dare you let them get away!"<p>

"Sir, the building exploded!"

"I don't care! You never should have let Fang and Angel near it!"

"Jeb, Sir, we have no control over those two anymore! After Max left them, we had no way to track them. She was the only one chipped."

"Fine! Just find me my Sierra and Zeta Gens and Max and_ bring them here_," Jeb ordered, beyond angry.

"Sir, it won't be that simple."

"And why not, Mark?" Jeb demanded.

Mark looked away. "Well, we had to remove Max's chip before we could start on Generation Zeta. So now we have no way to track them."

"Why didn't anyone chip the others?" Jeb exploded.

"We didn't foresee them escaping, Sir," Mark said, his voice almost too quiet to be heard. Few people saw Jeb this mad and lived to tell about it. "Dylan was the only one who even knew what the outside was from Generation Sierra. And as you've seen yourself, he was the model experiment. None of them had even considered escaping, Max included, until Fang and Angel arrived."

Jeb groaned, his hands cradling his head. "I want them back. Or there will be _hell_ to pay."

"Sir, how will we find them?" Mark wondered.

"I don't know!" Jeb cried. "Just get them back here! I want that child Max is carrying more than anything in the world right now. Whatever you do, _don't let them find Fang and the others. _I cannot stress that enough. DO NOT LET IT HAPPEN."

"I understand," Mark said.

"Dismissed."

Mark left. Jeb turned to watch the video recording of his Mexican School exploding. If he wasn't the smartest scientist in the world, he'd have believed the reports that Max, Generation Sierra, and Generation Zeta all died in the fire. But he knew better. Max would not die that easily.

After all, he had taught her better.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I really can't put off my English paper any longer. My semester will be over in a few weeks, so I will be able to update more regularly then. I should have another chapter for you by this weekend. Reviews are greatly appreciated! I would love to know how you think my story is. <strong>

**Thank you to those who put my story on story alerts. It means a lot that you like my story enough to follow it.**

**Thank you to my lovely reviewers as well. I love to read them and it gives me reason to continue.**

**Enjoy your week!**

**~Krisuvial~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, I know this is really short, but I wanted to get an update out for y'all. I don't have internet at my house for now and I just finished my last day of class/finals today, so I've been busy. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: JP wrote MR. I just love his stories.**

**Claimer: My characters, plot, etc...**

* * *

><p>While the others slept, I went through Max's memories. I had already seen them all before, so nothing surprised me. I was searching for certain events that could trigger her memory. The easiest time to do this was while everyone slept. Her memories would appear as to her dreams. I couldn't do this while she was awake because she might freak out if I was actually able to surface a memory and she was conscious. I just hoped this would help her remember <em>something<em> at least.

Some people have very organized memories, like Lumi, Bree, and the scientists. Others, like Max, have extremely disorganized memories where everything is just jumbled together carelessly. It's easy to locate memories when people have them organized. Organized minds have their memories stored by hour, day, month and year. Unorganized minds have absolutely no system, so you don't even know where to begin in them.

It took all night for me to rescue two memories from the fog in Max's mind. The fact that she has no mental organization skills didn't help either. And then I had a hard time finding the surface again after locating each memory. It's easy for even me to get lost in fog.

When the sun rose, I was exhausted. I hadn't realized how much effort it would take to surface a few memories.

I built up our fire for breakfast. Max and Lumi had managed to get a store owner to give us enough food to last about two weeks. All I can say is that the little girl is very good at charming people, and Max is an excellent liar, with or without a memory.

Max was the first awake. She started to fry some bacon, smiling the whole time. "I _think_ I remember something," she told me. "I saw it in a dream. I was holding Tyler right after she was born. I was strapped down to a metal table and she was all bloody, but I know it was her. We were in a white room that had all types of surgical equipment in it."

I nodded. _It's a memory from the School, _I told her. _Do you remember anything else?_

Max shook her head, sighing. "Nothing. I wish I did."

I cracked some eggs. The kids woke up, hearing breakfast cooking. They gathered around and we ate using real plates and spoons that Lumi stole from a different store than the one they got food from. After eating, I killed the fire and the two girls washed our utensils in the stream we were following.

"So I guess we keep heading north," Max said, looking at me for confirmation. I nodded. As we walked, she automatically took the lead. Even if she didn't remember being the leader, it was coming back to her.

Slowly, but it was.

"We should go to Fang's house," Bree suddenly said. We all stopped, looking at her for an explanation. "Well, he has lots of room. And they think Max is dead. So we should go there, prove she's not, and not have to keep walking forever."

Lumi nodded excitedly. "We can go to school!"

"Who's Fang?" Max wondered. "And where does he live? Why should we go there?"

We started walking again. "Fang is your best friend," Bree explained. "You grew up with him and four others in a lab in, uh, Death Valley, I think. Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. Fang and Angel came to get you from the School but it exploded and they think you're dead."

Max shook her head. "I don't remember any of that."

"Well, they're like your family, Bree stated. "I think we should go there. But, uh, you're the only one who knows _where_ they live."

_I think it's a good idea, Bree, _I told the little girl. _We just need to trigger Max's memory now._

* * *

><p>Angel was sitting in the school therapist's office, barely listening to the older woman's rant on how important it is to open up and talk about your feelings. She was depressed. Max was dead. She had been too late. And now Fang was plotting different ways to commit suicide. She'd seen every single on of his ideas, and had managed to stop him twice. But he was getting desperate, and there was only so much she could do for him.<p>

"Ariel!" Jen Fisher, the therapist, yelled. Angel blinked, staring at the older woman. "I can't help you unless you cooperate."

"I'm depressed, ok?" Angel snapped angrily. "The person I loved most, who raised me since I was born, and who I looked up to like a mother is _dead_!I saw the building she was in _explode_! And now the closest thing I've ever had to a father is trying to kill himself! I think I have a right to be upset about all that!"

Mrs. Fisher was shocked. Angel crossed her arms and glared at the woman, daring her to say more.

"Now was that really so hard?" the woman finally asked, almost teasingly. Angel shot up and left the room, slamming the door shut. School was almost over so she sneaked into the woods behind the school and snapped her wings open.

As soon as she was high in the air, she screamed.

* * *

><p>"Mom! Mom! Mom!"<p>

Angel ran around the house, screaming for Dr. M. She finally found her outside, chatting on the phone with a friend from work.

"Mom!" Angel cried, running outside.

"I have to go, Sally," Dr. M. said into her phone. "See you tomorrow!" She ended the call and turned to her frantic adopted daughter.

"Angel, honey, what's the matter?" Dr. M. asked.

"Fang!" Angel exclaimed. "He's been trying to kill himself ever since we got back. And now he's almost done it! He needs to go to the ER."

"Where is he?" Dr. M. demanded, rushing into the house. Angel was right on her heals.

"His room," Angel answered. "Iggy's there now, trying to stop the blood. But he took a bunch of pills, too."

"Call 911!" Dr. M. instructed, handing her phone to the girl. "And make sure they get an ambulance here ASAP."

Angel dialed 911.

_"Hello, thank you for calling 911. What is your emergency?"_

"My brother just tried to kill himself!" Angel yelled into the phone. "He's bleeding and swallowed a bunch of pills! We need an ambulance!"

_"What is your address, Miss?"_

"I don't know!" Angel cried. "It's the big mansion right on the edge of town. In the woods. We have a mailbox with "Martinez" on it by the road."

_"Ok, we know where that is. An ambulance is on it's way. Please stay on the line. How old is your brother?"_

"He's nineteen," Angel whispered, tears falling down her cheeks. "Please tell them to hurry! He's not breathing!"

_"Does anyone with you know CPR?"_

"My mom's doing it right now," Angel sobbed. "Please hurry!"

_"The ambulance should be there in two minutes. Please stay on the line."_

"Angel, can you hear anything from him?" Iggy asked, hid hands still pressing on the bandage he made from one of Fang's shirts.

"No," Angel whispered.

_"Ok, the ambulance just reached the house. You may hang up now."_

"Thank you," Angel mumbled, ending the call. She ran downstairs and opened the door as the ambulance stopped. A woman, a man, and a teen climbed out with a stretcher, clipboard, and a few other items. Two police men followed.

Angel led them all upstairs. The woman was all business. The man and teen looked around the halls and peered into rooms in awe.

"In here," Angel whispered, wiping her eyes. The woman and teen went right to Fang and took over CPR with a Defibrillator. The man went over to Dr. M. and started asking questions.

"The boy's name?" he asked.

"Nicolas Ride," Dr. M. answered.

"And he's nineteen, and lives here, correct?"

"Yes."

"Who found him like this?"

"My daughter, Ariel."

The man got down to Angel's level. "Ariel, do you know what your brother was doing before this happened?"

Angel narrowed her eyes at him. "He tried to kill himself. He's been doing it for a few weeks."

"Why?"

"His best friend was killed," Angel whispered, her voice cracking. "She was his whole reason for living."

"What did he do tonight? Do yo know?"

"I know he swallowed a bunch of pills," Angel sighed. "Ibuprofen, sleep meds, anti-depressants, and something else. And I think he tried to bleed to death, but passed out before he could do real damage."

"Ok, he's breathing," the teen announced. "Get me a non-rebreather and some O2, Tom."

The man, Tom, dug around another bag. He produced a mask and attached it to a bottle of oxygen. The teen put it around Fang.

"This will be good enough until we get to the hospital," the woman stated. She looked over at Angel. "Ariel, dear, will you come with us in the ambulance? I have some questions for you still."

The teen tied some bandages around Fang's stomach and the two males lifted him onto the stretcher. Angel followed them all outside. She and the woman sat in the back. The teen took the passenger seat and called the hospital. Tom drove.

The woman closed the little window between the front and back. Angel sat on the bench, close to the door, and watched the woman moving around Fang and checking his vital signs. "Ariel, dear, my name is Shana. Now, I noticed how your mother was doing CPR and copied her, instead of how I normally would do it. Would you explain why she was pushing down less and gentler than on a normal human? Your brother does not seem like someone who should need to be gone easy on."

Angel looked down. "We're experiments," she whispered. "Please don't tell anyone. Two percent bird. We are built somewhat differently. Mom didn't do it. It was some evil scientists when we were born. So our hearts beat different, we have different bones and muscles, and other stuff."

"What is his heartbeat supposed to be like?" Shana asked.

Angel snapped rapidly. "That's normal for us," she answered. "Anything slower is bad."

"Have you guys been to the hospital before?" Shana wondered.

"We have," Angel affirmed. "A lot. Dr. Brent is always the one who comes to see us. He knows about us already, so we prefer him over the others."

Shana nodded. She opened the window a little and looked over at the teen. "Jake, call the hospital and request that our patient be seen by Dr. Brent Hughes."

She closed the window again and sat next to Angel. Looking away, Angel grinned. Shana's mind was full of interest and concern for the two kids before her. She wanted to learn more, ask questions, but she knew she'd get no answers. For most of her questions, anyway.

The ride took ten minutes. By the time they reached the hospital, Fang's arm had stopped bleeding and started to heal. Shana noticed this when she changed the soaked bandage on his arm.

"We heal fast," Angel answered without any question having been spoken.

Dr. Martinez reached the hospital the same time the ambulance did. She parked and ran over to Angel as the EMTs pulled the stretcher out. They walked in with the crew, following them to Fang's room. His oxygen was switched to the hospital's and the crew left, wishing them all the best.

"Angel, can you hear anything from him yet?" Dr. M asked.

Angel shook her head. "Nothing. And that scares me."

* * *

><p><strong>I love cliffhangers. Sorry! I hope you enjoyed my super-short, super-late update. I will try to update sooner. I aim for once a week. If I ever get my internet back, it may even be more often than that! Until I begin my second job and work 60+ hours a week, that is :) Have a wonderful weekend all and a very happy Mother's Day to any moms out there.<strong>

**~Krisuvial~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys. So sorry this took forever. I've been busy. Really busy. And I hate this chapter. But whatever. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone found in the Maximum Ride novels. Nor do I own Mexico.**

**Claimer: Anything and anyone not found in the first three MR novels came from my own creation. Scary, right?**

* * *

><p>"It's so incredibly hot," Max complained, wiping sweat off her face.<p>

Lumi giggled. "I think it is fine out."

"So do I," Bree agreed.

"How are you two _not_ hot?" Max wondered. "I mean, we're in a desert, after all!"

The two girls shrugged. They had no answer.

Max turned to Dylan. "Are _you _hot yet?" she demanded.

_No, Max,_ Dylan answered. _I am a little warm, and that is all._

"How are you all not hot?" Max sighed. "I am, and so are Tyler and Vani..."

_Remember how I told you a while ago about the _Immortal Children _the School wanted to create? _Dylan asked. Max nodded, surprised she could remember that little bit of information from before she lost her memory. _Well, Lumi and Bree were the first generation of _Immortals. _The School took away their ability to become hot and cold. They have an extremely high pain tolerance, as you have seen. They take a long time to become fatigued, usually. They do not need to bathe, because they never smell bad. They never get greasy, either. But the School was not able to take away their ability to feel emotions, the need to sleep, nor to fear. If they had, the girls would be _Immortals.

Max looked over at the two girls. Lumi was grinning, playing a game she invented with Jordan and Vani. Bree was gently rocking Tyler, a peaceful smile on her angelic face.

_Well, I didn't know that, _Max thought, shocked. Out loud, she said, "C'mon, guys. Let's try to find some shade."

Bree handed Tyler over to Max. She shot into the air, returning two minutes later. "About ten miles East, Max. Forest. Just over the sand dunes.

"Let's go, guys!"

* * *

><p>Three hours later they stumbled into the forest. Max sat down against a tree, exhausted. The girls volunteered to look for food and took Jordan with them. Vani and Tyler went right to sleep.<p>

"Dylan, where are we going?" Max finally asked. "I mean, do you even know?"

_We are going to your friend Fang's house, _Dylan answered.

"How do we get there?" Max wondered. "I mean, I can't remember. Do you know where he lives?"

_All I know is that he lives in the United States,_ Dylan replied. _I do not know anything else, though. Only you do. So we will not know where exactly we are going until you remember._

Max shot up into the tree she was under. She landed on a branch halfway up, angry tears in her eyes. "And I still can't remember anything about my past!" she exclaimed, punching the tree from a few branches up. "I'm so sick of this!"

_Patience, Max,_ Dylan thought to her. She spun around and glared down at him.

"Don't tell me to be patient!" she hollered. "You remember everything since the day you were born! You don't have an empty hole in your head where all your memories should be!"

_You do not have a hole_, Dylan snapped. _It is fog! And I would gladly forget everything that ever happened to me in my past! _

"Yeah, and if I had my memories back, I could remember why that is!" Max exclaimed. "I can't stand having to learn everything over again!"

Max jumped out of her tree and stood in front of the boy. "Sorry, Dylan," she sighed. "I just really want to remember everything again. I've never felt so... confused. At least, I don't think I have."

_You will remember, eventually,_ I promised. _Just, not yet._

* * *

><p>"If you don't have good news for me, you'll be fired, Simon."<p>

Jeb spun in his chair and faced the young man standing in the door. The man stood his ground, unafraid of Jeb.

"Sir, we have reason to believe they are going to find _the others_," Simon stated. "If they manage to get that far, we will not be able to track them anymore."

Jeb nodded, frowning. "Yes. Somehow Fang discovered the tracking chips they all had, _and _managed to have them all removed. And destroyed, without giving away their location._"_

"Also, Sir, China is here to speak with you," Simon announced. "They are still interested in the offer you made with them before."

"China?" Jeb asked. "Excellent. I was afraid this would change their minds. Tell them I will be out shortly."

"One more thing, Sir," Simon said. "The experiments in J-Room are rebelling."

"Give them one warning," Jeb replied. "If they don't stop, gas them all. We don't need another escape attempt."

* * *

><p>Angel bounced impatiently as Dr. Martinez signed herself, Iggy, and Angel into the visitor book at the hospital. Iggy was tense, still disliking hospitals because they reminded him so much of his past. Ella, Nudge, and Gazzy were all at after-school activities.<p>

"Hello Valencia, kids," a familiar voice called out.

"Hi Dr. Gray," Angel called back.

"Hello Aaron," Dr. Martinez replied, turning to face the family's main doctor. "How are you today?"

"Busy, as ever," Dr. Gray replied. "I assume you're here to see Fang?"

"You know us so well," Angel said, smiling. "_Can_ we see him?"

"Of course you may, Angel," Dr. Gray replied, shocked she spoke to him. "Go on up. I want to talk to your mother for a minute."

Angel took Iggy's hand and they went off to find the elevator. Dr. Martinez followed Dr. Gray into his office.

"How's Fang?" Dr. Martinez wondered. "Is he getting any better?"

"I'm afraid not," Dr. Gray answered. "He still hasn't woken from the coma. I've only had a few patients enter a coma after overdosing, but I know it is a common occurrence. I'm honestly still shocked he didn't die right away after discovering what he mixed together."

Dr. Martinez nodded. "I don't know what to do. We're all hoping today will be the day he wakes up, but that doesn't always happen, right?"

Dr. Gray nodded. "He may never wake up and remain in a coma for life. Of course, his heart could give out at any time as well. Or, what we're all hoping for, he could wake up and be able to live life again. Though he would need a whole lot of rehabilitation."

"I don't think the kids could handle his death," Dr. Martinez sighed. "After all they've been through, he was like a father to them. He's the only one who kept Angel sane when Max left. At least they know Max is still alive."

Dr. Gray smiled. "That's the best news I've heard all day," he said. He looked over at a clock. "I've got to get to a meeting now. Are we still on for Friday night?"

"Of course," Dr. Martinez replied. Dr. Gray kissed her cheek lightly and hurried away. Dr. Martinez made her way up to Fang's hospital room.

"Some jerk pulled the fire alarm at school today," Angel was telling Fang as Dr. Martinez entered the room. "We had to wait over an hour outside. At least it's not cold out, I guess. But I missed gym, which stinks because we're playing floor hockey and I love it."

"Angel, Val's back," Iggy whispered.

"Oh, good," Angel exclaimed. "Mom, I decided to wait until you were here before I told Fang the good news."

"Well, go on, dear," Dr. Martinez replied, smiling. "I'm sure Fang will be happy to hear."

Angel turned back to Fang. His eyes were shut. If it weren't for his regular breathing thanks to some machine, she'd have thought he was dead. "Fang! I saw Max in a vision! She's alive. And she's got six others like us with her. They're looking for us, but for some reason Max can't remember anything about her past. You need to wake up so we can find her. Mom won't let anyone go. You're the only one who could convince her to let us. So, please wake up!"

Fang didn't move. No one could tell if he was even hearing anything they said. But Angel refused to give up.

"Let's go, guys," Dr. Martinez ordered after a few minutes of silence. "We've got to pick up the others and go home to start on supper. We can come back tomorrow."

"I want a minute alone to talk to Fang," Iggy said.

"Alright," Dr. Martinez agreed. She led Angel out of the room. Iggy sighed and looked at his best friend.

"Fang, you really need to wake up," he whispered. "Max is alive. We just have to find her and bring her home. Man, this whole leadership thing, I don't get how you two were able to do it. I'm the same age as you and I can't do it. If it weren't for Val being there to help me, I'd be completely lost. We'd have fallen apart by now. It's been a week since you were home. Until Angel told us about her vision this morning, everyone's been a mess. Nudge hardly spoke all week. Ella kept crying. Gazzy, well, you know how he gets when he's depressed. And I barely even saw Angel. Her first words since we left you at the hospital were today, "Max is alive". If you die, we'll be so screwed. Val wants me to hurry up, so I guess I'll see you again tomorrow."

Darkness.

Fang loved it. What did the doctor say he was in? A coma? It was the best thing he'd ever felt. He didn't feel any pain. He didn't have any nightmares or flashbacks. His past didn't haunt him at all.

He felt like he was floating. He had no control over his physical body, but that didn't bother him like he thought it should. The pain he'd felt after watching that building explode was too much for him to handle. But now he felt absolutely nothing.

It was better than death.

He'd heard everything said to and around him the entire week he was at the hospital. People kept asking him to wake up, to try and show them he could at least hear what they said. He did try, at first. But he soon gave up after realizing how much he enjoyed this new state of being and realizing that nothing he did worked, anyway.

It was a Friday when Angel and Iggy came to visit him, according to his nurse. He heard their unmistakeable footsteps before they were even halfway down the hall. Iggy's heavy shuffling and Angel's light steps. Angel was speaking excitedly to Iggy. But that was weird. Both Iggy and Dr. M. had told him that Angel hadn't said a word to anyone since he entered the hospital.

"Are you going to tell him?" Iggy asked Angel.

"Not 'til Mom's here," Angel answered. "Besides, I wanna tell Fang everything that happened this week."

Fang heard Iggy sit down in a chair heavily, as if he was exhausted. Angel sat down on the foot of Fang's bed, letting her feet dangle over the edge. She went through the whole week, talking about what everyone had done, her voice light. She didn't seem depressed at all.

After a while, Fang heard Dr. Martinez's footsteps coming down the hallway. "Some jerk pulled the fire alarm at school today," Angel was telling Fang as their adoptive mom entered the room. "We had to wait over an hour outside. At least it's not cold out, I guess. But I missed gym, which stinks because we're playing floor hockey and I love it."

"Angel, Val's back," Iggy whispered.

"Oh, good," Angel exclaimed. "Mom, I decided to wait until you were here before I told Fang the good news."

"Well, go on, dear," Dr. Martinez replied. Her voice held happiness and hope. "I'm sure Fang will be very happy to hear it."

"Fang!" Angel began, even more excited then before. "I saw Max in a vision! She's alive. And she's got six others like us with her. They're looking for us, but for some reason Max can't remember anything about her past. You need to wake up so we can find her. Mom won't let anyone go. You're the only one who could convince her to let us. So, please wake up!"

Max was alive? Fang couldn't believe it. But Angel never made important stuff up. She wouldn't possibly be able to lie about Max being alive.

It had to be true.

Fang tried to get his body to move. He wanted to wake up so he could go find Max and bring her home once and for all, whether or not she remembered him.

"Let's go, guys," Dr. Martinez ordered after a few minutes of silence. "We've got to get home and start on supper. We can come back tomorrow."

"I want a minute alone to talk to Fang," Iggy said.

"Alright," Dr. Martinez agreed. Fang listened as she led Angel out of the room. Iggy sighed.

"Fang, you really need to wake up," he began. "Max is alive. We just have to find her and bring her home. This whole leadership thing, I don't get how you two were able to do it. I'm the same age as you and I can't do it. If it weren't for Val being there to help me, I'd be completely lost. It's been a week since you were home. Until Angel told us about her vision this morning, everyone's been a mess. Nudge hardly spoke all week. Ella kept crying. Gazzy, well, you know how he gets when he's depressed. And I barely even saw Angel. Her first words since we left you at the hospital was "Max is alive". If you die, we'll be so screwed. Val wants me to hurry up, so I guess I'll see you again tomorrow."

_I'm trying,_ Fang thought to himself. _I want to wake up. I want to go home and protect you guys. I want to find Max, and the others with her, and bring them here._

Iggy left and Fang was once again alone.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm pretty sure all the coma stuff is accurate. I do my research on stuff like this. At least this chapter was longer than the last few. No promises on how soon the next will be out, though I hope it won't take as long as this one did. <strong>

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews. They are what remind me I need to continue!**

**So long for now!**

**~Krisuvial~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven is here! Nice and long! I hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Maximum Ride series.**

**Claimer: I own my story, plot, characters, etc...**

* * *

><p>"<em>Come on," a Whitecoat ordered impatiently. "We have some people for you to meet."<em>

_The girl followed, confused. She was led down countless hallways and up and down stairs. They finally stopped in front of a large metal door. The Whitecoat unlocked a complected-looking lock, pushed open the heavy barrier, and shoved the girl inside. He closed it and locked it back up._

_The room had no light. The girl was able to see a little, thanks to her enhanced vision. Before she even saw them, she heard two voices whispering softly._

"_What do you think it is this time?" a young voice asked._

"_I do not know," a second answered. "I hope not another experiment. I am so tired."_

"_Me too," the first replied._

"_Hello?" the girl called out. She turned and saw two small forms in the far corner. "I'm Max. Who are you two?"_

"_Should we reply?" the first asked. _

"_I guess so," the second answered cautiously. "Maybe it is not a test."_

"_We are Generation Sierra Alpha and Generation Sierra Delta," the first voice announced._

_Max mentally sighed. She knew that Generation Sierra was the second group of successful avian-human hybrids, hers being the fist. She had met one from this generation before, but it was killed for misbehaving before long._

"_Can I make it light in here now?" the younger of the two voices asked._

"_Go ahead," the older answered._

_Seconds later the room was full of light. Max examined the two girls sitting together on the linoleum floor. They both wore the standard cotton dress issued to girls at the School. The dresses were large on these two girls, who were easily malnourished. They were covered in bruises in varying stages of healing. Their were deep purple circles under their surprisingly bright eyes._

"_Do you two have wings?" Max asked, slowly making her way over to the two girls. The younger girl looked at the older one in a panic. But the older girl just watched Max curiously. _

"_Why?" the older girl wondered. "Do you?"_

_Max smirked. She carefully extended her wings a few inches, for the girls to see. Both of the girl's faces lit up. They stood and let their wings out a little._

"_We have never met anyone like us," the older of the two stated._

"_We thought we were the only ones," the younger added._

"_Trust me, we're not the only ones," Max said sadly._

"_Why do you have a name?" the younger girl wondered._

"_What? Max?" Max asked. The girls nodded. "I gave it to myself when I was little."_

"_The School told us our names are Alpha and Delta," the older two stated. "But we do not like them. They do not seem like real names."_

"_Would you like real names?" Max wondered. The girls nodded. "Hmmm. Let's see. Some people I know who chose their own names chose names that meant something to them. Explained their personality or had to do with their favorite power."_

"_You can be Illuminate, then," the older of the two girls said to the younger. "The Whitecoats always tell you to illuminate a room during tests."_

"_We can call you Lumi for short, then," Max added after a few seconds._

_The little girl grinned, showing a few missing teeth. "I have a name!"_

_Max smiled at the older girl. "You can be Breeze," she said. "When you talk it sounds like air."_

"_She moves real quiet, too," Lumi stated._

"_And you can call me Bree for short, then," the older girl said, smiling._

_Max nodded. The two girls grinned at each other and hugged Max._

"_Are you going to be living with us from now on?" Lumi asked._

"_I think so," Max answered._

"_Good," Bree said. "I like you."_

"_Me too," Lumi agree, a huge smile on her face._

* * *

><p>Max woke up, blinking. She looked at Dylan, grinning. "I remember meeting Lumi and Bree for the first time," she announced.<p>

_You are starting to recover memories on your own, then, _Dylan concluded.

Max stood up and stretched. Suddenly she ran a few feet into the woods, all of her dinner from the night before coming up in a bush. Max groaned as she returned to the campsite. Dylan handed her a bottle of water and she rinsed her mouth out.

"I hate being pregnant," she stated. "People actually go through this because they _want to_?"

Dylan nodded, amused. _Patience. The morning sickness will go away soon enough._

Max rolled her eyes. "You keep telling me to be patient. It's not getting me anywhere."

_You never were good at being patient, _Dylan mused. _I imagine that is true for even before I met you._

"Shut up," Max muttered. Dylan chuckled.

_You know, humans go through this for nine months, _he informed Max. _You only have to suffer for three to four months. _

"No way could I do this for nine months," Max said. "I would go crazy. Four months are bad enough."

_At least you are not alone, _Dylan reminded her.

"Yeah, I have you to lean on," Max breathed.

_And the kids, too, Max, _Dylan added.

"You and I both know that they would not be able to support me the way you can," Max whispered. "Dylan, I'd be lost without you here to help me. Especially since I can't remember anything. You're my rock right now."

Dylan sighed. _Max, do not think like that. You would be fine on your own._

"No, I don't think I would," Max replied. "I don't remember anything from before meeting you all. Did I even have someone I could count on this much? Who knew me so well?"

_You did, _Dylan stated. _His name is Fang. You love him._

"I don't remember him," Max whispered, shaking her head. "How can I love someone I don't know?"

* * *

><p>"We have an approximate location as to where the avian hybrids are located, Sir."<p>

Jeb nodded, looking at the interactive map his subordinate was controlling.

"Evan**, **do you have plans to bring them back yet?" Jeb asked.

"We do, Sir," Evananswered. "We will be sending out a team within the next few days."

"Excellent," Jeb said. "Instruct your men to make sure minimum harm comes to them. China, Iraq, and Italy are all waiting for their return. I do not want them to be damaged when we start bidding, once the other countries arrive."

Evan handed a thick folder over to Jeb. Jeb quickly read through the pages, grinning. "Foolproof. Not even Maximum could get out of this one. I must say Evan, this is genius."

"Thank you, Sir," the School's newest scientist replied. "It was easy to come up with after reading the reports Mark had left behind about the hybrids' weaknesses."

Jeb nodded. "You are one of the most intelligent men here, I believe. Bring me back my experiments and you will receive the promotion of your dreams."

"Thank you, Sir," Evan said, brushing off the compliment. He was barely twenty and already had a doctorate in Physics, Animal Biology, and Human Biology. He was too used to compliments and attention, mostly just brushing them off like now. "I do have one question for you, if I may ask it."

"You may," Jeb replied.

"Why do you want these experiments so badly?" Evan wondered. "Why do we need to keep them away from the other like them? Why do you want to sell them to different countries?"

"Evan, that's three questions," Jeb answered. "And I will gladly answer them all, for you have already impressed me more than any of the other scientists here. I want them so badly because they were built to save the world. Well, Maximum's whole reason for existing is to save the world. When I sell them to the various countries, they will use my hybrids in their wars. There will be much death and destruction. I would love to get my hands on the other five as well, because they will bring in so much more money, and make my plan that much more interesting. They will be so much more difficult to control, though. We need to keep them away from the others because once the others find them, they will ruin everything I've been striving for over the years. As you've seen, Maximum has already started to unravel what I've done in the few years she's been back."

Evan nodded. "Thank you again, Sir. I will report back to you once we have captured the experiments."

Jeb nodded. "You are dismissed, then."

* * *

><p>Angel sat up straight as the others made their way outside. She had called a Flock meeting. Val wasn't letting them leave to find Max, and Fang was still in his coma.<p>

She had to take charge.

Gazzy was the last one out. Angel glared at him for being late to her meeting.

"What?" Gazzy demanded, yawning. "I'm the only one who has to pass by Mom's room. I wanted to make sure she was actually asleep before I tried."

Angel sighed. "Ok. Guys, we have a problem."

"An eleven-year-old is trying to tell us what to do?" Iggy asked sarcastically. Gazzy snickered.

"Seriously, guys!" Angel exclaimed. "Max _is _alive. And we have to go find her. But the problem is Mom won't let us. Not without Fang. But Iggy, you have your sight. I think you and I should go find her."

"I am _not _staying home again," Nudge snapped. "I am _going_ with you guys. There's nothing for me to do here, and if Max is really alive, I want to see her as soon as possible!"

"Well, I'm not staying either!" Gazzy insisted. "There's no reason for me to."

Angel sighed, exasperated. "Guys. The less of us who go, the better. It's harder to track us when there are fewer of us."

"Why do you and Iggy get to go, then?" Gazzy demanded.

"I go because I'm the one who can see the future," Angel reminded him. "And Iggy goes because he's the oldest."

"Which is why he should be the leader," Gazzy mumbled.

"Um, no thanks," Iggy said. "Angel can have the leadership. I don't know how Max and then Fang did it. I want nothing to do with it, thank you very much."

"Now that we have _that _settled," Angel continued. "Iggy and I are going. No more questions about it. Nudge, I know there are six kids with Max. The oldest is a boy, around your age I think. The next two are girls, around nine or ten. Then a boy, about five or six. Another boy, three or two I think. And a baby girl. You should prepare rooms for them. Gazzy, you need to help her, so that the boy's rooms actually look like boy's rooms."_  
><em>

Nudge grinned at the thought of designing six rooms. "Oh, I guess that's ok then!" she exclaimed. "I wonder what the kids are like? I hope the boy is cute!"

"Do I have to?" Gazzy whined.

"Yes," Angel decided. "We shouldn't be gone too long."

"When do you want to leave?" Iggy wondered.

"Tonight," Angel answered. "Before Mom wakes up."

* * *

><p>"Look!" Lumi exclaimed. "A town!"<p>

Max sighed in relief. She was tired of walking. Her feet were unbearably sore, thanks to her pregnant belly.

"Momma!" Jason cried, pulling on Max's t-shirt. "Park!"

"Can we go?" Bree asked. "Please?"

"Please?" Lumi and Jason begged.

Max nodded. "Take Vani with you guys!" The kids raced half a block to the playground. Max and Dylan sat down on a bench to watch them.

Tyler stood in front of Dylan and motioned for him to pick her up. She giggled as he did, a huge smile on her face. Dylan's face lit up along with the baby girl.

"You two have a beautiful daughter," a woman said, stopping in front of Max and Dylan. "How old is she?"

"Almost eight months," Max said, mostly ignoring the stranger. The woman nodded and continued walking on.

After a while Jason came running over. He cocked his head to the side and asked, "Momma, when is the new baby coming?"

"A few more weeks, Jason," Max answered. He nodded and ran away. She put a hand on her large stomach and sighed.

Time passed. Max rested her head on Dylan's shoulder. She closed her eyes and listened to the joyful noises around her.

_These people here think we are _together_, Max, _Dylan thought, amusement in his mental voice.

_Let them think whatever they want, _Max replied, not moving, feeling at peace.

Dylan watched the younger members of the Flock play on the playground. After a little while he saw a large man grab Bree. He shot up, putting Tyler in Max's hands. "Bree!" he cried, running after the man, ignoring the pain that shot though his head from the one spoken word.

Dylan easily caught up to the large man. Bree bit his arm, hard. He screamed and dropped her. She ran to Dylan and hugged him tightly.

Max ran over, holding her baby on one hip. Two policemen came over when the man tried to grab Bree from Dylan.

"What's going on here?" the bigger of the two policemen demanded in Spanish.

"This man is trying to kidnap my sister," Max answered in fluent Spanish.

"The girl is my daughter," the man lied, his accent different and not as fluent. "I don't know who these people are. _They_ were trying to kidnap her from _me_."

The smaller policeman went over to Bree who was crying in Dylan's embrace. "Child, _are_ you this man's daughter?"

Bree looked over at Max. The older girl sighed. "She doesn't know Spanish," she explained. "Ask her in English."

The smaller man grinned. He asked in English, "Are you this man's daughter?"

Bree shook her head. "No. I was playing with my sister and he came over and tried to take her. I got in the way and then he tried to take me. I've never seen him before in my life."

The man nodded. He stood and looked at his partner. "Arrest him."

They grabbed the man as he tried to run away and shoved him into the police car. They left and the kids went back to the playground. Dylan took Tyler from Max and gently bounced her as they returned to their bench.

"You spoke," Max noted. Dylan nodded once and looked away. "It sounded nice. Your voice, I mean. I like it."

Max blushed as Dylan looked back at her. He smirked.

_You liked my voice? _he teased. This time Max nodded and looked away, embarrassed. _And you like the way I play with your daughter, too. _Max blushed harder.

"Stop reading my mind!" she exclaimed.

"Da-da down!" Tyler suddenly ordered. Max and Dylan both looked at the little girl in surprise. Dylan set her wiggling form on the ground. She toddled over to the sandbox where Vani and Jordan were playing, only falling twice.

"She thinks you're her dad," Max whispered, shocked.

_Well, I _have_ raised her since she was born, _Dylan replied. _It is normal, I suppose._

Max sighed and smiled. "You _do_ make a pretty good dad, I suppose," she said. "It's getting late. We should find shelter for the night. Think we have enough money for a hotel room? I'm pretty sure sleeping on pine cones is bad for an unborn baby."

_We have plenty of money, thanks to the girls, _Dylan replied.

"Good," Max said. "Let's find somewhere to sleep, then."

Dylan and Max stood, rounding up the kids. They were excited to be staying in another hotel.

_Should we get one room? _Max silently asked as they entered a hotel lobby less than a block from the park. _Or two?_

_Ask for a suite, _Dylan instructed. _It's all they have open. I will make sure he gives it to us. _

Max shivered, but nodded. The extent of the boy's abilities were nerve-wracking, even if he only used them when absolutely necessary. And never on her.

"I would like a suite," Max requested in Spanish. The man at the counter nodded.

"I'll just need to see a credit card and some ID, Miss," he replied.

"I only have cash," Max said.

"I can only give you a suite if you have a credit card," the man stated.

Dylan mentally sighed. He entered the man's mind. "Cash is fine," he made the man say.

Max handed over the cash. It was more than enough to cover the cost of the room. The man subconsciously counted it. He entered _paid _into the computer. Dylan erased his memory of seeing the kids, only letting him remember that the room had been paid for. Max just shook her head, smiling at the teen.

_You're scary, you know that?_ she thought._ I had no idea you could do that._

_You have seen me do it before, _Dylan replied. _You just cannot remember it. _

The man handed over a card for them to get into the room. The kids ran up the stairs to the fifth floor, which held four large suites.

"Wow, a king bed, a pull-out bed, _and _a couch?" Max breathed. "Wonderful."

Lumi and Bree claimed the king bed. Jason and Vani took the pull-out bed. Max made a nest of blankets and pillows for Tyler. She took the couch, and Dylan sat in a recliner. Max picked up the phone and started ordering food.

After eating pizza, Chinese food, and numerous room service meals, the kids all gathered around the couch.

"Momma, tell us a story!" Jason demanded.

"Please?" Lumi and Bree begged.

"A story?" Max asked. "I don't remember any stories."

"You can read one from my book," Lumi whispered, looking down. She pulled a thick book titled Fairy Tales.

"Where did you get this?" Max wondered.

"Um, from the food store last week," Lumi breathed. "I really wanted it, and no one saw me take it."

Dylan listened as Max mentally debated. Finally she said, "Guys, stealing is wrong. It's one thing to take something you really, really need, like food, but another to take something you don't need. Besides, now we have money and we don't need to steal anymore."

"But Max, the money was stolen," Bree pointed out.

"Um, ok," Max sighed. "Forget what I just said. What story should I read?"

"Well, we can't read," Lumi began.

"So we don't know any of the stories," Bree finished.

"Then I'll start at the beginning," Max decided. She opened up the book and flipped to the first page. "'Once upon a time, in a land far away'..."

* * *

><p>Max laid out on the couch and tilted her head to look up at Dylan, who was using the computer on the desk. The kids had fallen asleep about an hour earlier.<p>

"What are you doing?" Max wondered.

_I am trying to find information on your old Flock, Max, _Dylan answered. _A while ago, while we were still at the School, I heard you thinking about Fang and his blog. I figured that if I could find his blog, I might be able to get in contact with him somehow._

"Even if you do contact them, how do we know they want me back?" Max wondered. "You guys told me they kicked me out. What if they don't want me still?"

_They do, _Dylan assured. _That is why Angel and Fang came to rescue you the day the School exploded. Now they probably assume you are dead._

Max got up and stood behind Dylan at the computer. She watched as he typed into the Google search bar "Fang's Blog". He clicked on the very first link that popped up.

"Is that it?" Max asked. Dylan nodded, scrolling down the page to the most recent posts. He clicked on the first post.

**May 23, 2012. Fang's Blog.**

**Hi everyone! This is Angel posting on Fang's blog. To any of you who believe in some form of higher being, we could really use your prayers right now. Fang is in a coma. He tried to kill himself almost two weeks ago. He was extremely depressed and just couldn't handle it anymore. See, we failed in our mission to rescue Max. We saw the School she was in explode. We thought she was dead. But I recently discovered she is still alive, and is with another group of avian-humans. I won't tell you where they are, for their safety, of course! I'm not sure when Fang will wake up, so I'll be posting on here for now. That's it for now!**

**Fly on,**

**Angel.**

Max frowned. Neither of the names sounds familiar to me. She sighed. "I don't even _feel _like I know these people. I'm starting to feel like I've known you all for my whole life. But no matter how much I hear about the others, I feel nothing."

_I am sure you will remember them someday, _Dylan thought. _Just sleep for now._

Max returned to the couch and lay down. In minutes she was asleep.

* * *

><p>Dylan continued reading Fang's blog while everyone slept. Finally he decided to send a message to the Flock.<p>

_Flock,_

_My name is Dylan. I am a friend of Max's from the School. We have escaped and are looking for you. Max has lost her memory and is unable to remember where you live. I have reason to believe that we are being followed right now, by the very people we escaped from. I am not sure how to find you. When and if we do meet up, there will most definitely be a fight. The School wants us badly. Let me know what you want to do._

_Dylan._

He re-read the message and sent it. He just hoped that Max was wrong, and the Flock really did want her to return, like he believed.

And he hoped that they would get it, before it was to late.

* * *

><p><strong>So, a super-long chapter. I really hope you liked it! I kinda like this chapter. And I've got some good news for you: I have internet at home again! I am also more than half done with the next chapter.<strong>

**My sister made my cover-image thing. But it didn't come out so well after uploading it. But trust me, it's a wonderful piece of art. She has a fanfiction account too, Malfoyy. She's a Harry Potter addict. Well, a Malfoy addict, actually.**

**Well, please review! I love to hear your feedback. Have a wonderful weekend one and all!**

**~Krisuvial~**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back. AND I'm so incredibly sorry it's been over a year since I last updated. I owe you an explanation. See my AN at the bottom. Without further ado, here is the long-awaited chapter 8!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own MR. I own every single book, but nothing more.**

**Claimer: My characters, my plot, etc...**

* * *

><p>Angel waited patiently as Iggy checked out of their current motel. She was back in Mexico. They traveled from city to city, town to town, looking for their old leader. She knew she was out there somewhere. Somewhere in civilization since Angel's visions had seen Max at hotels.<p>

Angel hadn't mentioned it to Iggy yet, but she knew Max was pregnant. She could see the huge belly she had in her visions. But how had Max gotten pregnant?

"Let's get some grub before we head out," Iggy suggested. Angel nodded and led the way to Ihop, her favorite place for breakfast.

Angel ordered orange juice, blueberry pancakes, and a cheese omelet. Iggy ordered chocolate chip pancakes, coffee, and two meat omelets. Before long they were done and ready to head out.

Back behind the restaurant the two took to the air. They flew in silence for hours, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of Max.

* * *

><p>"We should get a car."<p>

Max looked over at Bree, surprised at her sudden outburst, nearly dropping her plate of meat kabobs. "A car?"

"You know, a metal box that has four wheels," Lumi explained, crushing up a taco shell over meat and lettuce. "We see them all the time..."

"No, no, I know _what_ a car is," Max replied. "But why?"

"Because you get slower every day," Bree explained.

"And we're tired of walking in the woods," Lumi added.

"It's scary!" Jason exclaimed.

"I can't drive a car," Max said. "I don't think I've even ever been in one."

_I think a car is a great idea, _Dylan told Max. _We can get farther, faster. We will be less conspicuous as well. And it will be better for the baby, too, if you're not on your feet all day long. _

"I wanna get a car," Jason said.

"Alright," Max finally agreed. "We'll get a car. But who will drive it?"

_I can, _Dylan informed her. _For a while I was part of this program called Big Brothers, Big Sisters. The big brother I had showed me not only how to drive a car, but how to hot wire it as well. Of course, we have enough money to legally get a car. I just need to get a fake license. Which should not be too hard in this shady city._

"Ok, Bree, go with Dylan," Max ordered. "You guys will get him a license and then get a car. The rest of us will stay here in the hotel. Make sure you take your phone, Bree."

Bree nodded, pulling out her little flip-phone. Dylan had insisted that he, Max, and Bree all get cell phones. 'Just in case' he'd reasoned. They were cheap prepaid phones, but they were perfect for the technologically-impaired group.

Dylan and Bree left when they were finished with their lunch. Max turned to the others. "What do you guys want to do?"

"Park!" Jordan exclaimed.

"No, not today," Max sighed. "We're staying inside today. Besides, it's raining."

"We can watch TV, then," Lumi decided, sitting down on one of the two beds. Vanish and Jordan joined her. She grabbed the remote control and flipped on the TV, clicking until she found a children's channel.

Max was amazed at how quickly the children became absorbed in the plot-less array of colors, sounds, and animals flashing on the screen before them. She herself tuned the noise out and focused on her daughter. She was sitting up on the bed, staring at Max.

"Da-da?" she wondered.

"He went out for a while," Max answered. "He will be back later with Bree and a car."

Tyler nodded to show she understood. Max was amazed at how incredibly intelligent her eight-month-old baby was.

Tyler crawled into Max's lap, reached up, and touched her mom's cheek. She began replaying a memory of that morning, before Max was up,

_Dylan walked over and picked Tyler up. He smiled at her, his normally haunted face appearing peaceful to the baby's eyes. He brought her into the bathroom and changed her, all the while tickling her stomach and toes. After he was done, he sat down at the desk and fed her her favorite food._

Max grinned. "You really like him, huh, baby?" she whispered. Tyler nodded.

"Da-da good!" she exclaimed.

Max nodded. "Yes, he is very good."

Bree grabbed Dylan's hand as he led them down a dark alley. He'd heard the thoughts of some local teens planning to go down this way to get fake Ids so they could get into some bar. Dylan wasn't afraid of the part of the city they were in, but Bree was terrified.

"Can't we go somewhere else?" the girl asked, her voice betraying her fear. "Somewhere with more light, and people?"

Dylan squeezed her hand reassuringly and led the girl deeper into the alley. Before long he could hear new thoughts. He was close.

They reached the door Dylan knew the guy he was looking for would be behind. A sign on the outside read _Comida Barata_. Dylan and Bree entered, a little bell ringing as they pushed open the door. There were four rows of different pre-packaged foods, and a freezer with milks, juices, and sodas. A tiny desk sat at the opposite wall with an old-fashioned cash register on top. Two teens turned to leave as Dylan shut the door.

Neither party spoke as the teens left, carefully watching Dylan as if he was a cop. And he could have been, for all they knew.

Bree and Dylan stepped up to the desk. Bree gripped Dylan's hand even tighter as the man sitting at the desk looked them over.

"What can I do for you today?" the man asked Dylan.

"He needs a license," Bree stated in English, sounding braver than she felt. "For a car."

"What makes you think I have those here, child?" the man asked. "And aren't you a little ways away from home?"

Dylan placed ten hundred-dollar bills on the desk. The man's eyes widened.

"I think I can help you," the man said, collecting the money. He pulled up a small laptop. In fifteen minutes he had a driver's license for Dylan.

"The kid's name is Brentlely Hix," the man said. "His photo looks closest to you. He's twenty-two today. Don't use this ID for any type of money and you're good."

Dylan nodded, taking the piece of plastic. He led Bree out of the store and away from the shady alley. They found a decent car dealer not far from the hotel.

"Let's see," Bree began as they examined the used cars. "There are Max, you, me, Lumi, Jordan, Vani, Ty, and we need to remember Max's new baby. So that's eight seats we need."

"Looking for an eight-passenger van?" a voice said. Bree jumped and hid behind Dylan at the first word. Dylan mentally chuckled. "We've only got a couple cars here that'll sit so many... Come this way."

Bree came out from behind Dylan as they followed the man deep into the rows of cars. "There's these two here..."

"Too small," Bree decided, hardly looking at the two minivans.

"The only other one I have is this 2000 Chevy Venture," the man sighed. "It runs. It needs interior work, but the engine is fine."

Bree looked up at Dylan. He nodded. Bree grinned. "This one will do," she announced.

The man looked up at Dylan. He nodded again. "Ok, it's five-grand," the man said. "You got that much?"

"Cash money," Bree said. Dylan pulled out five bundles of ten hundred-dollar bills and handed them to the man. He handed Dylan the key and walked off.

_This is not how most car dealers work, _Dylan informed the girl.

"I know you were controlling him," Bree replied. "You could'a gotten the car free."

Dylan shrugged. He unlocked the car and climbed into the driver's seat. Bree hopped into the passenger's seat. Dylan started up the car and carefully pulled out of the lot. He drove carefully, trying to remember how to drive.

Bree watched, amazed. "When can I do that?" she wondered innocently.

Dylan cracked a small smile. _I will teach you when we are safe._

Bree clapped her hands, grinning. "Oh, yay! Thank you!"

* * *

><p>"It's so weird seeing him all hooked up to machines and stuff," Gazzy mused.<p>

Fang tried to move something, anything, to let Nudge and Gazzy know he was still alive. They had been in his hospital room for almost ten minutes, talking about nothing in particular and fighting over the remote control.

"I know, right?" Nudge replied. "It's like he's a robot or something with all the different tubes and wires attached to him. Oh, what if he really can hear us like Angel thinks? Do you think he'd be mad if I called him a robot? 'Cuz I'm pretty sure that's something that would make him mad. Of course a lot of things make Fang mad. Like when you guys build bombs with his stuff or when Angel starts being bossy or when I keep talking and going on and oh..."

Fang focused on his right fingers. If he could just get them to _move_! Just a little! Then they would know he could hear them and wasn't about to die.

"Nudge, Gazzy, we have to go now," Dr. M. announced, entering the room.

"Wait!" Nudge exclaimed. "I forgot to tell him! Fang! Iggy and Angel went to get Max. Angel thinks she knows where she is, so they left. Without permission, of course. They are in Mexico now. So far they haven't seen her anywhere, but we're _not_ giving up this time! We _will_ find her, and the others too! Angel calls us every night and gives us an update. Okay, we gotta go now but we'll be back tomorrow! Hurry up and wake up!"

Three pairs of footsteps retreated from Fang's private hospital room. After everything he'd been through recently, the best thing so far was that they put him in a private room. Money wasn't a question as far as the Flock was concerned. And he would have killed someday when he woke up if there had been another person in the room while he was unable to do anything to block out unwanted noise.

Max was still alive. Fang had a reason to live.

If only he could regain control of his body...

* * *

><p><strong>Okay. So. First: I am so incredibly sorry. Words cannot even explain how sorry I am. <strong>

**Now to my explanation. This last year has been quite awful for me and my family. Everything went downhill for a while, then kinda got betterish. I did lose inspiration for this story last year. For a while. I did start writing again, but never finished or uploaded anything. Then things went REALLY downhill, and kept going until we hit rock bottom. And basically I've been homeless for the last sixish months. I got really depressed and completely stopped all my writing. Writing is an outlet for me though, so I decided to get back into it. And it has helped greatly ^-^ **

**So I hope that is an alright explanation. I am truly sorry for leaving this story. It is probably one of my favorite things I have ever written, and I intend to finish it. **

**I will hopefully have another chapter for y'all by Sunday. I'll be away next week so I'm going to try my best to get chapter nine up and before I leave.**

**-Krisuvial-**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine here! Enjoy y'all ^-^**

**Disclaimer: If I owned MR, I'd be rich and wouldn't have the issues I currently have...**

**Claimer: My characters, my plot, my room designs (haha you can use them if you want they are not that amazing)**

* * *

><p>"The car <em>just has <em>to break down in the middle of freaking nowhere," Max complained, swatting at a mosquito.

"We should have checked the miles and stuff before we bought it," Bree noted.

Dylan crawled out from underneath the car. He wiped his filthy hands on his pants. _It is no good. I need special tools to even get to the problem. The car is shot._

Max groaned. "I guess it's back to walking. C'mon kids, let's get goin'."

_I'm not sure how far we are from any forest, _Dylan informed Max. _Hours at least. _

Max groaned again.

Lumi snapped out her wings. "I want to find out how far away a town is," she announced. "Bree?"

The older girl nodded and snapped out her own wings. "We will not be gone long," she promised.

The two girls pushed off the ground and instinctively began flapping their wings. This was the third time they had done it so far. They were getting better each time, but were always hesitant to try it.

It was against the rules, after all.

"I wanna fly," Jason whined, watching the two girls disappear in the sky.

"Not yet," Max replied. "Once we're safe." Dylan held his brother's hand a little tighter as they continued to walk.

They walked for a while. Max had to rest after almost an hour.

"This isn't good," she muttered angrily, laying back on the ground. "I'm so useless like this."

"Momma?" Jay asked, fear in his eyes as he looked up at the sky. "What's that moving dot?"

Dylan closed his eyes. He could hear the faint sound of a helicopter.

"What noise?" Max wondered.

_Helicopter,_ Dylan informed her. _Moving very fast, right for us._

"We can't hide," Max whispered. "There's nowhere to go..."

* * *

><p>Nudge was dancing around the room she'd started for the younger of the two girls Max had with her. She'd figured that the new kids had never known anything other than the lab, so she decided to make the rooms themes based on gender. For this room she'd decided to go with princesses.<p>

The bed sat of to the left side of the room on top of a plush pink rug. It had pink and yellow sheets. The quilt had Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, and Jasmine on it. Sheer pink curtains wrapped around the bed. The walls were covered in princess quotes and pictures. Hearts lined the top of the wall where it met the ceiling. A huge life-size play castle sat in one corner. It had enough room for three people to move around comfortably.

"Gah, so much pink!" Gazzy exclaimed. "What if she doesn't like pink?"

"What little girl doesn't like pink?" Nudge replied. "Besides, if she doesn't like it we will change it. It's not a big deal. How are you coming on the older little boy's room?"

"Come and see!"

The two hurried down the hall. Gazzy pushed open the door and proudly welcomed Nudge inside.

The room was car-themed. The ground was a plush blue carpet. There was a blue racing car bed against the far wall. A small road-carpet sat at the head of the bed. Little cars were placed in the parking lot on it. Against the other wall was a play-table full of cars and "road" pieces. Different types of cars lined the walls, along with a checkered-flag pattern lining the top of the wall.

"It's amazing Gazzy!" Nudge announced, surprised. "I bet he'll love it."

"I know he will!" Gazzy grinned. "I finished the other little guy's room, too. I did a farm theme, like you suggested."

The toddler bed was a simple wooden piece that had railings that could go up or down. Dozens of stuffed animals rested on the bed on top of a farm-animal quilt. The carpet was green. A life-sized barn took up almost half the room. It could fully open and close. In here were toy tractors, little people and animals to play with in a toy farm, and even a real pile of hay to sit on. Outside the barn was a child-friendly bookshelf full of animal and farm books.

"Wow Gazzy," Nudge breathed. "I'm amazed. You did awesome work."

"Thanks," Gazzy shrugged. "Now I just gotta do the older guy's room. I saved his for last 'cuz I have no clue what to do for it."

Nudge shrugged. "I still have to start that other girl's room. I'm doing an underwater theme. Maybe you can do space? I mean, if he doesn't like it we'll do something different. It's not a big deal. Oh and we need to get a crib to put in Max's room. I'm sure she'll want that baby with her. Oh, and I can't wait to meet all of them! I hope their nice! But I'm sure they are 'cuz you know, Max is with them. It'll be so much fun having so many more people in the house! It'll be like a party! Speaking of parties, Liz is having on this weekend and..."

"I'm gonna go play Xbox," Gazzy announced. He turned and left while Nudge continued to ramble, unaware that he'd left. "Maybe someday she'll learn..."

* * *

><p>"AGHHHH!"<p>

"Bree?" Lumi asked, scared.

Bree dove to the ground, landing perfectly. She fell to her knees as tears poured down her face. Lumi came down a few seconds after, wrapping her little arms around the older girl's shoulder.

"Something bad," Bree gasped. "The Immortals. I saw them. They are going after Max and the others."

"How long do we have?" Lumi wondered, her voice strong.

"I'm not sure," Bree answered, standing up. "It's a solid vision, so it's going to happen. And soon."

"We need to get back to them!" Lumi exclaimed. "Dylan's the only one who can really fight right now."

"I hear voices!" a voice sang.

Lumi and Bree froze. Two people walked into the clearing they were in. An extremely tall pale boy and a much shorter slightly-not-as-pale girl stopped about five feet away.

"I told you we would find them here," the girl stated. "Iggy, they are the two girls who were with Max in my visions."

Lumi grinned, remembering the name. "Iggy?" she asked the boy. He nodded. Then she looked at the girl. "You must be Angel!"

Angel nodded, a smile on her face. It quickly turned into a frown as she realized she couldn't read their minds. "You know us, but we don't know you."

"I'm Breeze," Bree announced. "She's Illuminate. Yeah, we're with Max. Well, were. We went ahead to see if we could find a town or something, but it's been a while and we haven't found anything yet."

"We gotta get back to them now," Lumi reminded Bree.

"Um, we think something bad's about to happen," Bree explained.

"Lead the way," Angel offered, motioning towards the air.

All four kids jumped into the sky and began their flight. Iggy and Angel quickly noticed that Bree and Lumi were still learning how to fly and slowed their paces down to match that of the girls'. Thankfully they were not too much slower.

Lumi looked over at Iggy as they flew. "I thought you were blind," she mused.

Iggy grinned. "I got my sight back," he explained. "Did Max tell you about us?"

Bree nodded. "Lots and lots. Are you really an amazing cook?"

Angel nodded this time. "He really is! He's gonna make an amazing dinner once we're all back home!"

They flew in silence for a while.

"Bree?" Lumi asked in a small voice.

"What is it?" Bree wondered.

"I have a really bad feeling," the younger girl almost whispered.

The four sped up a bit. Before long they spotted a helicopter on the ground a few miles from where the two girls took off from originally.

"Oh no," Iggy mumbled. They angled down and landed semi-gracefully just in time to see two teenagers, one in black and one in white, fighting with Dylan while Max and the kids backed away.

"MAX!"

Max spun around. Angel hug-tackled her.

"Huh?" Max wondered.

Angel grinned. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

Max just blinked, confused. "Uh..."

"Angel, we might want to help this kid...?" Iggy half-suggested, half-asked, motioning towards Dylan who'd just been knocked to the ground by a vicious punch.

"Right!"

Angel, Iggy, and Bree joined Dylan. Lumi skipped back to Max.

"It's four against two," Iggy stated. "This'll be easy."

"No," Bree disagreed. "These are the Immortals. This will be far from easy."

* * *

><p><strong>AND with that, I will not be online for a week. Tomorrow (Sunday) morning I leave for a mission trip and we won't be back 'til late Friday evening. So if you're lucky I might update by next Sunday. But I highly doubt that since I won't have any time to even pre-write chapter ten before I get back... And I actually have plans for today (Saturday) so I won't be writing for a week or so. And next Saturday I will be sleeping all day followed by work. <strong>

**I know it still wasn't as long as I usually write... I will do better next time! Haha I just wanted to make sure I got this one out by today (Saturday) like I promised. I would have wrote more, but, well, I ended up having a social life Thursday (4th of July!). So yeah. Those are my excuses!**

**On another note, I started watching "Your Grammar Sucks" on YouTube (and finished all of the episodes...) and I must say this: How on Earth can people go through life writing like that? Agh it makes me so sad to see comments published on the internet that are so grammatically incorrect. If you're taking the time to comment on something you have enough time to look over it really fast and make sure that it makes sense and that it shows that you have at least a basic understanding of the English language. Sorry about that little rant but I had to do it ^-^**

**Okay. Have a wonderful week everyone! Send me your lovely reviews on my story please! It's the only reason I decided to work on this story again!**

**-Krisuvial-**

**PS: If you can *correctly* guess what will happen in the next chapter I will answer any one question you have about the story (that doesn't give away the ending that is). And I don't mean what happens in the whole chapter. Let's go with what happens to Max and the others. Do they escape? Do they defeat the Immortals? Tune in next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow this is so short. And a day late. I apologize for both! But I had no inspiration to write this the last few days. Instead a wrote what could be the first chapter of a new fic. Haha I get distracted too easily.**

**But... FANG ^-^ **

**Read on!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything JP owns.**

**Claimer: I do own my characters and plots. Yay me!**

* * *

><p>Max slowly backed up as the helicopter touched down. Two male teenagers hopped out, moving towards the group of avians. They were exactly alike except for their clothing. One wore all white while the other wore all black. Their eyes were blank as they gazed at us.<p>

"Remember not to kill any of them," the white one ordered.

_Yin and Yang,_ Dylan thought to Max. _The Immortals._

_You know them?_ Max wondered.

_Unfortunately,_ Dylan replied. _They used me to train. _

"This is your one chance," the white one called out. "Come with us now and no one will get hurt."

Dylan moved into a fighting stance. _Get the kids out of here. I should be able to hold them off long enough for you all to escape._

Max and the kids backed up, putting more space between them and the Immortals. Dylan remained firmly between them, willing to defend as long as he could.

The white-dressed male stepped forward. "I will fight you, then," he said to Dylan.

Dylan grit his teeth. Yang smirked and moved faster than ever. Dylan didn't even see the hit that knocked him back ten feet.

"This is a pointless battle," Yin called out. "We will just injure you."

Dylan spat a little blood, regaining his balance. He wouldn't back down.

This time Dylan threw the punch. Yang caught his fist right at the last minute. Dylan spun himself around and managed to throw Yang off balance.

Then Yin came into the picture.

"You got better since our last session," the other male commented. "You actually managed to knock my brother to the ground. But you will not be that lucky again."

Max looked away when the two started fighting. She heard four people land almost as soon as she turned.

"MAX!"

Max spun around. A young girl hug-tackled her.

"Huh?" Max wondered.

The girl grinned. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

Max just blinked, confused. "Uh..."

"Angel, we might want to help this kid...?" a pale man half-suggested, half-asked, motioning towards Dylan who'd just been knocked to the ground by a vicious punch.

"Right!"

The two strangers and Bree joined Dylan. Lumi skipped back to Max.

"It's four against two," the strange man stated. "This'll be easy."

"No," Bree disagreed. "These are the Immortals. This will be far from easy."

Max shook her head, confused. "Um, they are...?"

Lumi grinned. "Iggy and Angel! Two of your Flock! They came down here to find us."

Max turned back to the battle. The two new people, Iggy and Angel, were clearly amazing fighters. They kicked and punched and before long Yang was on the ground, unconcious.

Then Yin pulled out a gun.

"No one move," he warned, stepping around Yang's body and the four avians. "I want Max in that helicopter. Now. And her two kids. Or I will shoot to kill."

Max's eyes widened, but she quickly followed his command. She didn't want anyone dead because of her.

Yin pointed the gun at Bree as Max stepped into the helicopter. Yin grabbed Yang and hopped into the copter. Before long it was leaving.

"Where are we going?" Max demanded.

"Go to sleep," Yin muttered, slamming the butt of the gun on Max's head. Her world instantly went dark.

* * *

><p>"Dr. Batcheldor?" a familiar voice asked. Amie. Fang's nighttime nurse. "We don't have clearance for you to take the boy..."<p>

Boy. If Fang was awake he'd remind Amie he was no boy. He was nineteen. A man.

Wait. Batcheldor? Take the boy... Fang didn't like the sound of this.

"See this badge here?" an even more familiar voice demanded. Fang shivered. It was Jeb. "It says FBI. Which means I have all the clearance I need to take him."

"I need to let Ms. Martinez know first..." Amie stammered.

"I already told her I was taking him," Jeb snapped. Lies, Fang was sure. "I'm just moving him to a new hospital. One with more experience doctors."

"Okay, I just need you to sign some papers for me..." Amie whispered, fearful.

"Of course," Jeb agreed, his tone of voice much more pleasant now. Fang heard pen on paper. And then he was quickly moved to a gurney and travel bags replaced his IV and other lines.

Fang was wheeled into an elevator and eventually outside. He felt himself lifted into a car. Doors shut. Another opened. Someone got into the car. Jeb. He started it and tore out of the parking lot.

"Fang," the man said. "We will wake you up soon. Yes, I'm the reason you're in a coma. And still are, actually. You'll be happy to know that you'll be seeing Max soon. I'm taking you to her. If I wake you up, promise to behave? I will give you some freedoms, and Max, as long as you behave. Go ahead and move your left hand if you agree to behave."

Max. Fang would do anything to see her again. And something told him that the evil man was telling the truth.

Fang focused on his left hand. For a few moments nothing happened. Then, finally, he felt his fingers come together in a fist. He uncurled them, victorious.

"I thought you would behave," Jeb said, a smirk in his voice.

Fang felt the car pull over and off the road. The driver door opened. The restraints on the gurney were removed. Fang was sat up, his arms pulled behind him and cuffed together.

"Can't be too safe, of course," Jeb whispered in his ear. He was carried to another car and seated in the front passenger seat. The door was shut. Jeb climbed in the driver seat. He started the car, then stuck a needle in Fang's arm.

As Jeb pulled onto the road, Fang started waking up. It took almost thirty minutes before he could get his eyes open. He opened them slowly, grateful they were out at night. There were few lights to bother his eyes.

"Remember, if you're good you get to see Max," Jeb warned, seeing Fang was now awake.

Max.

"Why...?" Fang croaked, his throat raw.

"Why what?" Jeb wondered, holding a water bottle to Fang's mouth. The boy gulped down the entire bottle in seconds.

"Why'd you take her?" Fang managed to ask.

"To fulfill her mission, of course," Jeb answered. "And now you will help her."

"Where we goin'?" Fang asked.

"Canada," Jeb answered. "Since you all managed to find us in Mexico, we're moving HQ."

"How long...?"

"We will be there tomorrow. Now sleep."

Another needle pierced Fang's skin. He was unconscious almost instantly.

* * *

><p><strong>Well? Was it ok? I know, not my greatest work. But considering I spent last week on a mission trip and this week trying to recover... Eh no excuses, I know. At least I can work with how this chapter ended and make a better one for you hopefully withing the next few days! So yeah... <strong>

**In other news, I'm trying to decide where to transfer to next year. I've narrowed it down to two schools. They both have the majors I'm interested in, and I have friends at both. I'm leaning more towards one (which just happens to be where my crush goes, and he wants me to go there too ^-^). Gah I wish college wasn't this difficult. **

**My life :) Well, I hope you enjoyed this short chapter, and please forgive me that it wasn't up to par! I really just wanted to get you guys another one before it got too much later. And the next one WILL be better. I promise.**

**Peace out ~**

**-Krisuvial-**


	11. Chapter 11

**Well, long time no see. Sorry for the long hiatus. But I'm back. Somewhat.**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: JP wrote MR. Not me. **

**Claimer: My story, characters, plot, etc...**

* * *

><p>Iggy looked around the clearing. Four kids he didn't know stared back at him. The oldest boy- someone had called him Dylan earlier- knelt on the ground, breathing heavily and bleeding from his head. One of the young girls, Bree, was talking to him. The other, Lumi, picked up the little boy who was crying. She looked up at Iggy. "Now what?"<p>

Iggy blinked. Right. He was the oldest. He was in charge.

Now what?

"We go home," Angel announced sweetly. Iggy looked down at the girl. She smiled back up at him, but he saw the pain in her eyes. They had lost Max, again.

_This time we know she's alive, _Iggy mentally reminded her. Angel nodded.

"Home?" Lumi questioned, her eyes shining. "I've never had a home."

Dylan stood up. The bleeding had stopped. The little boy climbed into his arms. The two girls looked up at Dylan.

Bree turned to face Iggy. "Dylan says we can trust you."

"When can we go home?" Lumi wondered.

"Let's go now," Iggy decided. "Can you guys fly?"

"Not for real long," Bree answered. "But we can for a while."

Angel beamed. "Let's go then!"

* * *

><p>~FANG POV~<p>

_God, this is an uncomfortable bed. Why can't hospitals invest in comfier beds? I'm sure it would help the healing process if patients actually got decent sleep during their stay._

I shot out of the bed I was lying in. I wasn't in a hospital anymore. I was awake. Jeb had technically kidnapped me from the hospital.

I had to be at the School.

In Canada.

What the hell's in Canada anyway?

Wait.

I was at the School.

DAMN IT ALL TO HELL.

I sat on the cot I'd slept on, looking around. The room was small. Smaller than my bedroom at home. There was another cot, though. With someone on it.

A girl.

A very familiar girl.

"Max," I whispered.

It was Max. And she looked awful.

I stood and stepped over to her bed. She was so tense, even deep in sleep. My heart broke. She never should have left, even if it _was _to protect us. She was covered in dirt and bruises. Dried blood dotted her forehead and mingled with her limp hair.

I wanted nothing more than to go back in time and keep her from leaving. I'd even volunteer to take her place just to keep her safe.

"Max," I whispered again, gently running fingers over her face. I hadn't seen her in almost five years. And she looked awful.

I wanted to kill someone.

Then I noticed her stomach.

Her abnormally large stomach.

And I REALLY wanted to kill someone.

I turned and punched the wall. Hard. My wrist broke instantly.

Damn them all to Hell.

Seriously? How could they do this? She was only nineteen. No way was she old enough to be a mother.

Max. A mother. Well, technically she raised Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge. She was more of a mother to us for years than anyone else. But still. She wasn't old enough to have her own kids.

Max is pregnant.

My Max.

I couldn't wait for her to wake up so she could tell me who to kill first.

* * *

><p>I paced for a while- a long while- after setting my wrist. Finally I sat back on my bed. Why hadn't anyone come in yet? They had to have seen me pacing, punch the wall, look at Max for the first time.<p>

Around two hours had gone by. I was bored. I had forgotten how boring being imprisoned could be after being free for so long. I guess I took for granted all the useless things I had to keep me entertained at home.

In the time I'd been trapped I realized one thing. Escape was nearly impossible. There was no visible door to our room, for starters. No windows. No vents. Nothing to break out from. I couldn't even tell if we were being watched, which I assumed we were. But I couldn't find any cameras, so I wasn't even sure about that. The walls were very solid, and probably sound-proof too. I hadn't heard anything other than our breathing yet.

The room was chilly, especially with the clothing we were in. Whoever had "taken care" of me when I first arrived only provided me with a pair of cotton shorts. Max was in a thin cotton dress that ended before her knees. Definitely not proper attire for the temperature of our room.

I wondered if the others would come find us. Unless Angel had a "vision" of a clearly-Canadian sign, I doubted it would happen. Which meant we would have to escape on our own.

And again, that seemed impossible.

"Ugh..."

I looked up. Max was waking. She stretched, groaning, and sat up. Her eyes traveled around the room before they rested on me.

She looked incredibly confused.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"The School," I answered.

Max blinked. "School? This doesn't look like a school... And who are you? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

Ok. that freaked me out. Max didn't know who I was?

"Ugh, my head hurts," Max mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

Well, if her head hurt, then that would mean she had some sort of head injury. Which could mean she was suffering from amnesia. Nothing to freak out about.

Yeah, right.

"I'm Fang," I stated. "This is a lab. We call it the School. And they didn't give me one."

Max looked around again. "Why are we here?"

I looked down. "We're... experiments."

"Experiments?" Max wondered, cocking her head to the right a little. "What do you mean?"

How on Earth do you explain this to someone who doesn't remember living through it?

Well, a good place is to just start at the beginning.

"How 'bout I just tell you our history?" I suggested. "Starting from when you were born?"

Max nodded. "Ok. Maybe I'll remember something then."

"Well, it all started when..."

* * *

><p><strong>Max and Fang are together again! Well, sort of. So how was it? I want to keep going with this story, and I *do* have plans for it. I've just had a lot of issues that kept me from writing. But I'm getting back into writing again and decided to start by continuing this story. <strong>

**Time to go to sleep. Let me know what you think!**

**Carry on!**

**~Kris~**


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